Leaving HL without transfer charges

JohnRo

guitarman001 wrote: »

Is it too late for me to transfer out without facing huge fees?

What is the best alternative if I want to buy Vanguard funds?

I left iii because they were charging £80 a year.
If I have £20k in funds and Hargreaves charge 0.45% then that's £90. Not a show-stopper right now (though more expensive than the £2 per month on Vanguard funds they were previously charging!).

Percentage-based is always worse but I'm wondering if it's really worth it? Has the whole RDR thing calmed down now - has every company announced their changes and is there a good summary of these anywhere?

EDIT - just saw iii also covers the cost of two trades so if you trade twice per quarter then you effectively don't pay anything at all? That's good - HL defo more expensive... but I have to say I found the iii interface pretty rubbish compared to HL. And just like the HL website crashed, so did iii's not long back...

You effectively pay a minimum of £20 a quarter.

Charles Stanley cost 0.25% p.a. charged monthly in arrears which on your £20K is £4.17 a month. They don't charge anything to purchase or sell funds.

Cavendish via Fidelity are also a similar rate but their web interface and account facilities are horrible.

naedanger

guitarman001 wrote: »

Is it too late for me to transfer out without facing huge fees?

I do not believe it is too late. (I think you have at least six years to first bring a complaint.) However once you start your complaint you must follow certain timescales, which HL will tell you about e.g. they may only give you a short period in which to exit free of charge and if you are unhappy with their final response you have only six months from that point to complain to the Financial Ombudsman Service, although hopefully this will not be necessary.)

However you must send a formal complaint. If you merely ask or request that they waive their exit charges then they will refuse. (As far as I am aware, everyone who has formally complained has had their charges waived and everyone who has simply asked has been refused.)

The following is suggested wording for a formal complaint.

Subject:!Formal Complaint: FAO Senior Client Services Manager

I wish to complain that it is unfair introducing new/increased charges (e.g. the new probate charge and new exit charges) without giving customers an opportunity to exit without charge. I now understand that this is also against regulatory guidance e.g. from the OFT and that you have been waiving exit charges for customers who formally complained.

As a result of the increased charges I no longer want to remain with HL and I expect you to waive my exit and transfer fees just as you have done for others.

If you refuse, and charge any fees on exit or transfer, then I intend to pursue this complaint via the Financial Ombudsman Service.

[End of suggested text]

Send that as a secure message (or modified appropriately if you have already transferred and are now seeking a refund). Everyone who has complained, as far as I am aware, has then been sent a written letter (within about 7 days, sometimes much quicker) from HL agreeing as a "gesture of goodwill" to waive the exit fees.

Not giving customers an opportunity to exit without charge following a price increase (even if the increase is for regulatory reasons) is against regulatory guidance. For this reason Hargreaves Lansdown will probably not want complaints going to the Financial Ombudsman Service.

Remember it is HL that are not willing to continue the contract on the originally agreed terms. So in those circumstances why should customers have to pay to go elsewhere?!

Chapter 12 (page 57) of the attached is worth a read:

http://www.oft.gov.uk/shared_oft/rep...rms/oft311.pdf

Finally if you do not get a positive outcome within 7 days then post back here.

vectistim

Today I find I have a fund that now appears nowhere. I'll see if it gets sorted by the end of the week.

le_loup

vectistim wrote: »

Today I find I have a fund that now appears nowhere.

That's quite usual. Unacceptable, but usual.

vectistim

le_loup wrote: »

That's quite usual. Unacceptable, but usual.

It's the first one I've had do that - the previous funds were simply listed on both platforms for weeks.

guitarman001

Thanks for your replies - appreciated! So time is not lost yet and the complaint needs to be formal... and now I have a few alternatives.

I do apologise though as I've been too busy to investigate further myself!

The %age fee is ridiculous for larger holdings but I wont have any more than £10-20k at present. So I'm guessing I'll put up, shut up and stick with Hargreaves unless one of the alternatives really jumps out at me. 0.45% though... shocking! Am I correct in saying that this fee has been scrapped for vehicles such as ITs? To be honest I don't have any and wouldn't know where to start with that! I stick to a plain dumb old Vanguard fund!

kjo

Only just come across this thread & wish I had checked months ago.

I've hit problems trying to transfer ISAs in to HL so God knows what it would be like trying to get them out.

I've used HL for 14+ years & slowlyswitched all family investments into their hands for online convenience but boydo I now regret it !
They have become slower & slower indealing with transactions that are not a simple buy/sell instruction to thepoint that now instructions given online are not acknowledged but, if you arelucky, acted on after phone calls & secure message enquiries.On the phone Iwas told it is not their policy to acknowledge instructions & if I wantedto take it any further to write to complain.

When they failed to tell me of the progressof ISA transfers from another broker to them I had to phone again after a monthhad passed to be told it was the fault of the other broker & I should bepatient for another month ! 2 weeks later I checked with the broker whocurrently had the ISA & was told they had sent all the necessary info to HL6wks earlier but had heard nothing back from them.

I wrote a formal letter of complaint totheir Senior Clients Service Manager as advised on their website &literature where they boast "Most emails answered within 4 hours, mostletters within 24 hours".Three weeks & one further phone call later, Iam still waiting for any kind of response !

Despite this abysmal service I face apenalty transfer fee of £25 per stock if I want to escape them & move to amore responsible broker !
Once they have got their claws into you allthey are interested in is selling you more stock.

Not sure now what to do next.

naedanger

kjo wrote: »

Despite this abysmal service I face apenalty transfer fee of £25 per stock if I want to escape them & move to amore responsible broker Once they have got their claws into you allthey are interested in is selling you more stock.

Not sure now what to do next.

If you were with HL before their recent charges increases were announced (earlier this year) then you should be able to get HL to waive their usual £25 per stock fees if you decide to transfer. See post number 1133 in this thread, a few posts above.

If your decision on whether to stay or leave HL depends on whether they would waive these fees then wait for their reply before starting any transfers.

vectistim

vectistim wrote: »

Today I find I have a fund that now appears nowhere. I'll see if it gets sorted by the end of the week.

For some reason I felt the urge to log in again this afternoon, and another fund now appears nowhere, so that leaves one fund and some cash with HL, two in undetectable limbo and the rest successfully transferred.

xylophone

For some reason I felt the urge to log in again this afternoon

Masochism? Penance?:)