Dot ComUnity Credit Union - ISA

masonic

Archi_Bald wrote: »

very simple. They follow the procedures of the ISA Re-instatement guide and check the companies in default on the FSCS website. Then they take the FSCS cheque and closing ISA statement and put the money into an ISA, as an ISA transfer (I am ignoring for now that FSCS should not have put the non-ISA fivers from the basic share account on the same cheque as the ISA money, and that the EBCU Administrators seem to have employed clueless folk to calculate the interest due).

But the FSCS are telling people to bank the cheque and that all they need is their account statement.

The only examples of evidence given in the guide you linked to are: " a passbook or a copy of annual statement for the relevant account", neither of which the banks would be able to verify as genuine. In theory, someone could mock up a fake account statement. which is what I was alluding to above.

So clearly more evidence is warranted. Those who have not listened to the FSCS would be able to provide the original cheque, but why should anyone be penalised if they have followed FSCS advice, banked the cheque without retaining a copy and left themselves in the situation where all they have is an account statement, which the bank will not be familiar enough with to verify as genuine?

masonic

rebecca1 wrote: »

If I send my cheque to another ISA provider with the extra £5.00 in it will they accept it?

I believe that AlRayan Bank will accept the cheque but needed the statement also. I am sure when they see they don't agree it will cause problems. There ISA forms are also not straight forward to complete online.. I might stick to a well known and bigger financial institutions.

If I were in your shoes I would not send the cheque anywhere without disclosing all of the details in advance and making sure they are still happy. Until there is some reasonable precedent for banks coping with the situation, I'd strongly prefer dealing face to face so that it can be sorted there and then.

hgt

I had a positive phone conversation with Virgin Money today (where I already have an ISA and non-ISA savings account). I explained the situation, the lady on the phone wanted the name of the ISA provider which was in administration, then went off to check with the ISA team.

She came back to confirm that they are willing to accept the deposit if I write a covering letter and send that along with the statements and FSCS cheque to their head office. To avoid any issues I've asked them in my letter to split the cheque so the surplus fiver goes into my non-ISA account.

So that's all been sent off by registered post, so will see what happens. But the response from Virgin has been positive so far at least :-)
The lady one the phone did have a good chuckle when I explained that just over a year ago I transferred the ISA from Virgin to DCU! So now I'm back with my fingers burnt and my tail between my legs!

codetown

Hi, I am thinking to Virgin Money too (good experience with them in the past)! I would like the very simple Defined Access E-ISA.

Have they suggested to open a new ISA account and then send a transfer request with the check and a covering letter explaining the facts? (I am already a customer with VM, so I can easily apply online)

Where have you sent your letter and check (which address)?

hgt

Hi Codetown,

Yes I'm also a fan of Virgin Money and have had a good experience with them in the past (should never have left them for DotCon really)!

Well I actually already had a Defined Access e-ISA open with Virgin with a small balance, so I have asked them to deposit my FSCS cheque into that.

Though I see no reason why you couldn't open a new e-ISA online (but not fund it), then write to them with a covering letter like I did.

They asked me to send my cheque, statement and cover letter to:-

Virgin Money
ISA Department
Jubilee House
Gosforth
Newcastle upon Tyne
NE3 4PL

The lady I spoke to on the phone said that a transfer form would not be necessary.

Probably a good idea to take a photocopy of everything first just in case anything goes missing in the post. I splashed out £1.73 on recorded delivery too!

codetown

mt77 wrote: »

This whole thing is a shambles. FSCS and Cork Gully seem to be just as disorganised as DCU / EBCU.

I honestly cannot understand how on earth Cork Gully could not think to the easiest solution for ISA holders: deal themselves with a large bank/BS (say Nationwide) and transfer automatically all our former DCU ISA accounts and data into new very basic ISA accounts with this bank.

They could have negotiated a standard rate and most of us would have left it there at least for a while... and in any case, at the end of the day it would have become back a regular ISA, so we could have transferred freely out...

They did something similar with one of the icelandic bank a few years ago and everyone was happy back then. Not so today!

masonic

codetown wrote: »

I honestly cannot understand how on earth Cork Gully could not think to the easiest solution for ISA holders: deal themselves with a large bank/BS (say Nationwide) and transfer automatically all our former DCU ISA accounts and data into new very basic ISA accounts with this bank.

They could have negotiated a standard rate and most of us would have left it there at least for a while... and in any case, at the end of the day it would have become back a regular ISA, so we could have transferred freely out...

They did something similar with one of the icelandic bank a few years ago and everyone was happy back then. Not so today!

Yes, that's what they did with Kaupthing Edge, where customers were handed over to ING. It was lauded as a great success and model for the future.

whw

I have yet to do anything with my cheque and wondered if distributing the funds between current accounts would be better and then pulling it all together again in a single ISA at a later date?

1. I fill up all the high paying current accounts at my disposal.
2. If the remaining balance is at or below this year's allowance, re-invest that as new money in a new 2015/16 ISA.
3. In the new tax year, gather up all the balances in the currents account and invest in a new 2016/17 ISA, whilst transferring the previous 2015/16 ISA into it too.

Archi_Bald

It would entirely depend on how much your cheque is for and what you intend to do with the money. If your plan works for you, it's perhaps what you should be doing as you can avoid all the ballache people have with the new ISA providers.

christh

Well I took a trip down to HSBC (I already have an ISA there for 2015-16) this lunchtime with all my papers and I explained the situation.

Staff disappeared with my cheque and debit card for 20 mins... Came back and said her manager was looking into it but they needed a certificate from the FSCS. Thanks to previous posters' comments on here, I was able to inform her that they don't issue them any more.

She went back to talk to her manager; returned and said they'd look into it and call me back later today. Not an entirely unexpected outcome.

Edit: Okay, just had a call back and they said they need a letter from the FCA (?!) stating the final balance and that it is an ISA. Is that not what I provided? Okay, the piece of paper with the cheque on it doesn't say it's an ISA but surely that would suffice?