Dot ComUnity Credit Union - ISA

darren72

Steve3S13 wrote: »

I think a run on the bank is in the long run the only solution that looks like we will get access to our funds.
Their lack of caring for customers is abysmal.
Reading the previous post about the measures imposed on them I feel that they have no way to run the business. No money in and no money out, wages etc to be paid. Only one way to go as far as I can see is down.

I have to agree. Although doing this may mark the end of this credit union if everyone does so

They are not helping themselves though - through lack of information, and lack of replies - they were very active on here initially and responded to every question.

Steve_xx

MARTYM8` wrote: »

I am just wondering generally if the restrictions that have been imposed on them by the regulators around deposits and withdrawals actually apply to ISA investments – as opposed to their ‘managed funds’ (e.g. the everyday personal account). In other words if you just submitted a transfer request to another provider could they actually prevent you transferring – although the terms say you need to let them know.

Given they haven’t actually informed all members about the restrictions (are they still in place?) – they are presumably in breach anyway of the regulators requirements above. It is evident from posts on here that a number of members never got the 16 January email ‘continuing our focus on 2015’ which had this hidden in point 6 of the attachment without any reference in the covering email.

You do also wonder who on earth thought it was sensible to have so many Fixed rate ISA products maturing on one day – yes its easier to organising paying the interest but its not exactly prudent in terms of cash management! I hope they aren’t giving any staff annual leave in the first week of May!

I suppose that you could test this by setting up a new ISA with a different provider, and then try pulling the funds from you DotCom ISA. I think I might be doing that now, rather than waiting until 5 May when there will possibly be a run.

MARTYM8`

darren72 wrote: »

I have to agree. Although doing this may mark the end of this credit union if everyone does so

They are not helping themselves though - through lack of information, and lack of replies - they were very active on here initially and responded to every question.

I see they have posted another tweet – I assume this means the new website may be imminent (so print out the old ISA terms and conditions while you can!). But then they posted the same thing on 17 February!

‘It's looking GREAT!!! Not long now until its live.’

They have also updated their facebook page with money saving tips – including the helpful advice ‘don’t use a tumble dryer’ and ‘never impulse buy – sleep on it’. The last bit of advice is possibly something many of us now wish we had followed when selecting our 2014-15 ISA.

darren72

MARTYM8` wrote: »

I see they have posted another tweet – I assume this means the new website may be imminent (so print out the old ISA terms and conditions while you can!). But then they posted the same thing on 17 February!

‘It's looking GREAT!!! Not long now until its live.’.

Surely they should spend their time sorting out their own finances before spending time and money on getting a new website !!

Steve3S13

darren72 wrote: »

I have to agree. Although doing this may mark the end of this credit union if everyone does so

.

If it does then maybe that's a good thing as well as bad.....................
Good for all the other possible savers that could follow in our footsteps. I assume that there are many savers out there who cannot afford to loose the interest that an early withdrawal (that I feel is being imposed on people as a very real option).
If they are a badly managed outfit then that's what happens as a result. Luckily for them and sadly for all of us they were playing with other peoples money and not their own, so no real consequences to them as there are to us.
Us being the people who trusted them to look after our money. Why should we loose 3-12 months interest for their failure to manage the funds.

darren72

Steve3S13 wrote: »

If it does then maybe that's a good thing as well as bad.....................
Good for all the other possible savers that could follow in our footsteps. I assume that there are many savers out there who cannot afford to loose the interest that an early withdrawal (that I feel is being imposed on people as a very real option).
If they are a badly managed outfit then that's what happens as a result. Luckily for them and sadly for all of us they were playing with other peoples money and not their own, so no real consequences to them as there are to us.
Us being the people who trusted them to look after our money. Why should we loose 3-12 months interest for their failure to manage the funds.

From my earlier post today, it would seem that this isn't the first time they have had this restriction placed on them by the FSA - It occurred previously back in 2011 due to not maintaining positive capital. As the FSA puts it -

"EBCU has failed to maintain positive capital, and presents a risk to consumers by continuing to be permitted to conduct the regulated activity it carries on. "

Steve3S13

Makes you wonder how they lasted so long.............................

MARTYM8`

Steve3S13 wrote: »

If it does then maybe that's a good thing as well as bad.....................
Good for all the other possible savers that could follow in our footsteps. I assume that there are many savers out there who cannot afford to loose the interest that an early withdrawal (that I feel is being imposed on people as a very real option).
If they are a badly managed outfit then that's what happens as a result. Luckily for them and sadly for all of us they were playing with other peoples money and not their own, so no real consequences to them as there are to us.
Us being the people who trusted them to look after our money. Why should we loose 3-12 months interest for their failure to manage the funds.

I think perhaps what saddens me about all this is that Dot Community’s primary role is ‘to support people with learning and physical disabilities and their circle of friends and supporters’. The credit union exists primarily therefore to provide funds/accounts for those vulnerable individuals and their carers and organisations supporting them.

You would presumably therefore want to ensure you manage your funds prudently – given the nature of the bulk of your membership (both depositors/savers and those being lent funds) – and be honest with them about what is going on.

gwapenut

The previous ebcu regulatory intervention lasted over a year, i think. It was also addressed by the company rep. Quoted here...

DotComUnity wrote: »

Good Evening,

You have absolutely no concerns here.

Enterprise The Business Credit Union (EBCU) was set up to provide members of the Federation of Small Businesses with their own Credit Union, based up in Morecambe.

Through its duration, there was significant mis-management and issues arising, leading to the issues in 2011.

During this time, DotComUnity, in its original entity was looking to setup a Credit Union to support the Disability Sector, based in Poole, Dorset.

DotComUnity was signposted in the direction of EBCU, and was put in a position to restrucutre the Board of Directors, and relocate the operations to Bournemouth, Dorset.

Throughout the past 12 - 18 months, DotCOmUnity has been setting out the Marketing, Branding, Banking Platform, IT Infrastrcuture, and ultimately developing the sustainable business model that we are moving well into today.

The past 6 months have seen membership, shares and loans exceeding 400% increases, rapidly making us one of the fastest growing Credit Unions in the UK, whilst building a safe and secure centralized infrastructure that you would want to trust your money with.

Hope this helps clear up.

Kind Regards

Rob

darren72

gwapenut wrote: »

The previous ebcu regulatory intervention lasted over a year, i think. It was also addressed by the company rep. Quoted here...

"Through its duration, there was significant mis-management and issues arising, leading to the issues in 2011. "

They are experiencing the same issues in 2014/15 though - are they putting that down to significant mis-management and issues also !?