Sippdeal shocker (& link to template complaint letter)

koru

BestInvest SIPP is just a custody charge of £100 pa on shares/ETFs, as long as you hold some shares/ETFs with them on 28 Feb. So, same price as YouInvest, as long as you have no funds.

juliamarsh

noh wrote: »

I note that ATS have now published their new charges.
They have waived exit charges for a period of two months for those that wish to leave.
It would be around £200 pa cheaper for me to hold my SIPP with ATS comapared with YouInvest

http://www.alliancetrustsavings.co.uk/forms-documents/fees-charges/GENF1025-12-13_Table-of-Charges.pdf

noh do you have a document/letter I can access about the waiving of ATS's exit charges? I can't find anything on their site. I have a complaint with the Ombudsman about them charging me fees to exit 18 months ago, by allowing customers a fee free exit now it is tantamount to an admission that they were wrong not to do so last time and I think it might really help my case if I can produce documentary evidence. Many thanks for your help.

aspiration_2

SnowMan wrote: »

I would also suggest that any investor with Youinvest who faces a large increase in fees and decides to move to another platform, should ask Youinvest to waive all re-registration charges and selling costs to move away.

Hi Snowman. But YouInvest have no charges for ISA (for shares and ETFs) Or have I got it wrong?

Financial houses never ever make these crystal clear.

Also it appears to me that if one sells off all funds and stick to shares and ITs then HL and others have similar charging structure??

JasonPr

Just sent a complaint letter to Youinvest based on the H-L complaint letter.

Did anyone else complain to Youinvest about the new charges and ask for the exit fees to be waived?

juliamarsh

If anybody can point me in the direction of literature from Alliance Trust Savings which states that they are giving their customers a 2 month fee free exit I would be very grateful, as it would be very helpful for me to be able to supply this to FOS in support of an ongoing case I have against them.

JasonPr

JasonPr wrote: »

Just sent a complaint letter to Youinvest based on the H-L complaint letter.

Did anyone else complain to Youinvest about the new charges and ask for the exit fees to be waived?

Received Youinvest's final response today refusing to waive the exit fees.

I guess I need to read up on how to submit a complaint to the regulatory body.

Snowman, what's the status of your complaint?

SnowMan

JasonPr wrote: »

Received Youinvest's final response today refusing to waive the exit fees.

I guess I need to read up on how to submit a complaint to the regulatory body.

Snowman, what's the status of your complaint?

My complaint is with the Financial Ombudsman Service at the moment. So far correspondence from the FOS is:

2nd January 2014: received aknowledgement from the FOS that they had received my complaint

18th January 2014: FOS letter saying they are now asking Youinvest to send them their info about the complaint, and that an adjudicator should be in touch with me within 6 months.

SnowMan

juliamarsh wrote: »

If anybody can point me in the direction of literature from Alliance Trust Savings which states that they are giving their customers a 2 month fee free exit I would be very grateful, as it would be very helpful for me to be able to supply this to FOS in support of an ongoing case I have against them.

It was mentioned in a letter of 27th December 2013 that ATS sent to existing customers when they notified them of the latest fee increase.

It lists the new charges and then at the end of the letter there is a section that I quote

Your rights

If, after reviewing our competitive position and checking what price changes other providers have planned, you no longer believe Alliance Trust Savings is offering you the platform and charges that are right for you, you can transfer or close your account in line with our existing Terms and Conditions (T&Cs) at no additional cost.

From the date the new charges come into effect, as stated in out T&Cs, you have 60 days in which to transfer or close your account. As a gesture of goodwill, any transfer requests received by us in writing from 28 December 2013 up to and including 28 February 2014 will not be charged our normal transfer charges. Any transfer request received by us in writing from 1 March 2014 until 1 April 2014 will be charged the existing or new transfer charges (whichever is lowest) and we will refund the difference in administration fee to you.

ey143

Be ready to wait upto 18 months. I just had my appeal heard against a different broker. Had to wait 12 months for first outcome. And it's for worst with more people complaining since then.

SnowMan

I've just had a phone call from the initial adjudicator at the Financial Ombudsman Service. Shockingly he is not upholding my complaint. So it will have to go to the Ombusman for a final decision. And if that fails I will have to take a claim through the small claims court.

The FOS claim that Youinvest have negotiated an exemption from the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contract regulations with the FCA through a previous undertaking on their terms and conditions. That means Youinvest can increase charges with 30 days notice and not give investors a free exit route. And there is no protection from the significant imbalance that the OFT UTCCR legislation provides in every other consumer area.

According to the FOS adjudicator, Youinvest don't have to show that their regulatory reason is valid they just have to name check it. So the FOS won't accept an argument that there was no regulatory reason for the increase in charges, and Youinvest could have just moved everyone onto their explicit charging structure.

So effectively financial services companies can quadruple charges with just 30 days notice and charge people 3 years worth of charges to leave by just name checking a vague caluse in their terms and conditions.

I am removing Youinvest from my platform comparison spreadsheet as their charges are completely meaningless as they could be quadrupled again with just 30 days notice with no waiving of exit charges. So it could mislead investors who think Youinvest look cheap for some share and ETF only SIPPS (about the only scenario where they look cheap).

I am completely shocked by this development.