Dot ComUnity Credit Union - ISA

whw

colsten wrote: »

I know what you mean. Keep your powder dry, and keep asking for what is rightfully yours.

Nationwide wanted me to close my complaint on the grounds of "Malcolm's" promise that my cheque would be credited to my ISA that they have yet to open. Malcolm was even going to pay me money to close the complaint. I didn't ask how much as I just want them to deposit my FSCS cheque - minus the £5 if necessary - into a FlexClusive ISA so I can decide what to do next with the money in peace and quiet.

The advisor who I initially dealt with (before being passed to someone who didn't know either until I showed them this thread on my phone) - and who later helped raise the complaint and informed me over the phone regarding the internal email; wanted me to close my complaint too.

The way they saw it, they'd already followed the tip I suggested from Bhamstudent, by calling another branch to see what others are doing, then another call to HQ and that there wasn't much more they could do at branch level. I said, no, this is a complaint squarely aimed at HQ and the fact it took over an hour of my time sat in a corner, whilst the advisor was on the phone in some other part of the branch waiting for HQ to decide just what to do. It's thanks to this thread I was able to direct the branch staff to start dealing with this FSCS mess so while it'll leave a black mark on the branch at least they'll have an incentive to follow through now.

I even had to insist to the second advisor helping me that I take an ISA form to fill out at home even though they said I might not need to since I already hold a current account with them.

When I quoted that two people on MSE this morning had gone into other Natiowide branches and had a more positive experience, the second advisor fobbed me off with, "Oh, it's probably the amount is different." No, the amount doesn't come into it. It's a straight forward transfer as stated in the _Government-issued_ ISA Re-Instatment pdf that I 'd provided a link which they weren't able to view online in branch. Sigh.

*And breathe*

colsten

whw wrote: »

The advisor who I initially dealt with (before being passed to someone who didn't know either until I showed them this thread on my phone) - and who later helped raise the complaint and informed me over the phone regarding the internal email; wanted me to close my complaint too.

The way they saw it, they'd already followed the tip I suggested from Bhamstudent, by calling another branch to see what others are doing, then another call to HQ and that there wasn't much more they could do at branch level. I said, no, this is a complaint squarely aimed at HQ and the fact it took over an hour of my time sat in a corner, whilst the advisor was on the phone in some other part of the branch waiting for HQ to decide just what to do. It's thanks to this thread I was able to direct the branch staff to start dealing with this FSCS mess so while it'll leave a black mark on the branch at least they'll have an incentive to follow through now.

I even had to insist to the second advisor helping me that I take an ISA form to fill out at home even though they said I might not need to since I already hold a current account with them.

When I quoted that two people on MSE this morning had gone into other Natiowide branches and had a more positive experience, the second advisor fobbed me off with, "Oh, it's probably the amount is different." No, the amount doesn't come into it. It's a straight forward transfer as stated in the _Government-issued_ ISA Re-Instatment pdf that I 'd provided a link which they weren't able to view online in branch. Sigh.

*And breathe*

For goodness sake. How much more pathetic can Nationwide get.

Well done for holding your position in the face of so much incompetence by what is meant to be a reputable building society, and a well regulated financial services industry hah hah hah.

Your (and my) complaint is about the fact that Nationwide BS are unwilling to re-instate an ISA amount even though they have all required evidence from the FSCS and the Administrators, and even though their HMRC-issued guidance notes tell them how to do it.

Until they have re-instated our ISAs, our complaints cannot be closed if we don't agree to them being closed. Nationwide could, in theory, close their ISAs to external transfers although they'd have a lot of explaining to do to people like ourselves who already submitted ISA transfer requests. I expect they'll keep their ISAs open for transfers-in, and I also expect they will process our FSCS cheques as ISA transfers-in (with or without the fivers, minor issue), and re-imburse me and you and others who complain about this shambles for the hassle they are putting us through. We might have to go to Mr. Graham Beale for a resolution, but a fair resolution we will get if we want it.

Gizmo70

I had the same issue with Nationwide and the extra £5. They suggested that it could be counted towards this year's subscription, but I wasn't prepared to tie myself to using Nationwide for this year (yet).

I did pop into Santander, Halifax, Barclays and NatWest and none of them could split a cheque between accounts. Most said they used to be able to, but couldn't anymore - perhaps a change in banking regs?

I am currently waiting for a call back from the West Brom as to whether they can deal with the cheque from the FSCS, etc.; they did say by end of play today but that has been and gone.

I might look at booking an appointment with the Skipton as I have a couple of local branches.

rebecca1

Well I banked 3 cheques ( I was looking after 3 accounts) today with Skipton... They are now being sent next day delivery to the Head Office to deal with who apparently knows about this strange situation we are all in ! I filled out the ISA transfer forms I downloaded from their website and took all the ID into the local branch.. will give you an update as and when I receive it.


Rang the FSCS today as I am waiting for another cheque for a family member I have Power of Attorney for. It seems like they knew they had not sent me a cheque, as they needed proof that the cheque was being sent to the right person. It looks like I may have to send them the POA forms before they send the cheque !


Rebecca

hgt

hgt wrote: »

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!

An update on my experience with Virgin Money....

According to Royal Mail, my cheque arrived at Virgin Money HQ this morning.... I've just checked online and my ISA has been credited with the funds from my FSCS cheque :-)

They have even managed to split the cheque so that the rogue £5 has been credited to a non-ISA account.

So well done Virgin Money, no hassle at all, and the job was done much quicker than I expected.

So for those of you having troubles with other providers, might be worth considering Virgin Money... I've certainly been very impressed with them.

whw

I've just had a 30min phone call from one of Nationwide's Area Team people (a manager at another branch) giving me the lowdown on the situation thus far.

The gist is on the 22nd May a communication was generated internally from HQ ISA team to everyone in NW. But here's the interesting bit, it was posted as a "minor incident" on their internal communications website which not all branches would normally check since they only check "daily incidents" such as interest rate changes. The contents were along lines of "Be aware customers maybe coming into branch ... [something do do with cheques]". (Sorry, I didn't have the conversation recorded so going by my scruffy notes).

Since my complaint yesterday, this "minor incident" post has been escalated for my area and HQ have now assigned their Group Tax Team to liaise with HMRC on the correct procedure to accept the FSCS cheque. I did inform them that Virgin Money had no problems accepting and splitting the cheque (based on hgt's experience here) but NW "just want to make sure they're doing it correctly".

The process at branch level as of today is to take an ISA application form and other documentation (FSCS cheque and Administrator letter I guess) but they wouldn't be able to open an ISA account until they have confirmation from HMRC. They will backdate interest to the time of the customer going into branch though. This procedure has been updated on their "daily incidents" website today since they're expecting more people like us to turn up and it would seem future occurences of change to procedures or new procedures will be highlighted there too.

There was mention that from the 3rd July, NW will require a confirmation information sheet as part of the application which will be issued by NW. I couldn't get more information about this unfortunately as it's part of the procedures still being drawn up by the Group Tax Team.

With regards to the £5 Shared Account monies there is some good news. NW are able to split a cheque into any number of amounts and the ISA portion will remain in the ISA wrapper. So that goes into the ISA as a transfer and the £5 would go into a NW current account (I didn't ask what would happen if the customer wasn't already with NW) rather than new money for this tax year's ISA subscription. Furthermore, if you have a FlexDirect account then going for the FlexclusiveISA @ 1.6% permits you to make separate deposits during the tax year rather than one lump sum subscription. I have also been told that should the rate drop before HMRC come back with a decision they will honor the 1.6% or move me to a better one if one becomes available.

As for compensation, I had to close my complaint to receive it. I wasn't going to turn away free money so I didn't see a point to wait the total 56 days for the the complaint procedure to lapse.

As for being notified of the eventual procedure by NW's Group Tax Team's, I was told that if the branches had to call each and every customer to update them, then that's what they'll have to do! So I'll have to wait it out for now.

darren72

I thought it was going smoothly with First Direct, but they now inform me that the statement was a 'copy' and not an original !??

Anyone else encountered this problem. This is turning into a nightmare now....

colsten

whw wrote: »

As for compensation, I had to close my complaint to receive it. I wasn't going to turn away free money so I didn't see a point to wait the total 56 days for the the complaint procedure to lapse.

I reckon you'd have got a whole lot more compensation if you had held out for a while longer.

colsten

darren72 wrote: »

I thought it was going smoothly with First Direct, but they now inform me that the statement was a 'copy' and not an original !??

Anyone else encountered this problem. This is turning into a nightmare now....

Bizarre. Presumably you have gone back to Cork Gully and asked them to tell FD that your statement has been produced by them?

I'd raise a complaint with FD as well for making up excuses for not processing your cheque in a timely manner.

darren72

colsten wrote: »

Bizarre. Presumably you have gone back to Cork Gully and asked them to tell FD that your statement has been produced by them?

I'd raise a complaint with FD as well for making up excuses for not processing your cheque in a timely manner.

I have, but Cork Gully always take days to reply.

The cheque is already banked and has been for some time with FD. Although I'm going to raise a complaint after they call me back tomorrow regarding the matter.