Dot ComUnity Credit Union - ISA

Bhamstudent

FOREVER21 wrote: »

Without giving full name of person( or it will likely be removed ),Can I ask you what your source of information is, I tried to get some update from DotCom today but Rob was out of the office and Iwas told he would ring me to morrow. I will also update the thread if? he does ring me.

I don't mind saying - I've said it before (and I think the posts are still there). I've been speaking to Neil at DCU (he's their compliance manager).

colsten

Bhamstudent wrote: »

I don't mind saying - I've said it before (and I think the posts are still there). I've been speaking to Neil at DCU (he's their compliance manager).

Does Neil have a surname? Herbert?

colsten

mt77 wrote: »

Nor have I received this maturity letter.

That is absolutely shocking. It's a breach of contract, too, even if it was due to an admin error, which I very much doubt it is.

mt77 wrote: »

I have opened a new ISA with a new ISA provider and have emailed DCU over the weekend instructing them to transfer my ISA to the new provider on 05 May.

I know that they - for unknown reasons - ask us to tell them if we want our ISAs transferred. It's all very well to respond to their request out of courtesy but you realise you need to ask the new ISA provider to make the transfer?

mt77 wrote: »

I have also mentioned to them that I have not received their maturity letter, as was agreed in their t&c's last year, and that even if I did receive it now I wouldn't agree to their new t&c's / would not be applicable since I am transferring/closing.

That's what everybody with a May 5 maturing ISA should be doing. Unless, of course they are happy to leave their money in the 'safe' hands of DCU.

mt77 wrote: »

I have a feeling that DCU / EBCU may be trying catch out unwitting customers onto their new t&c's by not sending this maturity letter them.

I agree. It's an obvious scam they could try on, to keep as much capital as possible in DCU because retaining capital is a matter of survival for them. Their letter says that unless they hear to the contrary you agree to their proposal. So the scam is: don't send the letter, and if anyone asks, tell them that they were sent the letter and there has been no objection. Then hope the account holder will be so malleable or intimidated that they will not go to the FOS.

Unfortunately, though, for DCU, we now know for a fact that some people were not sent the letter as they should have been, and even if this post gets deleted, we still know about it, and can still remember/prove it. Actually, I don't think anyone at all did receive their 28-day maturity letter 28 days before maturity - people just received a letter dated April 7 up to two weeks after April 7, and after they asked where their letter was. The first reported sight of the letter by an account holder was April 15 - - anyone got theirs any earlier? Anyone got their letter without asking for it?

mt77

colsten wrote: »

I know that they - for unknown reasons - ask us to tell them if we want our ISAs transferred. It's all very well to respond to their request out of courtesy but you realise you need to ask the new ISA provider to make the transfer?

Yes, already submitted the transfer request form. DCU should soon be receiving the transfer request form from my new provider.


I should also state that I have not received an acknowledgment for my email sent over the weekend. I am pretty certain DCU responded a lot quicker last year. It may be worth sending a recorded delivery letter to them just as confirmation too.

darren72

Out of interest which new providers are people going to ? - The best 1 year fixed I could find is 2%.

Steve3S13

So if we open a new ISA with a new provider and the transfer is refused but at a later date a miracle happens and we are able to remove our funds from DotCon, can we then make a transfer?
I thought it could only be done at the initial application stage

colsten

Steve3S13 wrote: »

I thought it could only be done at the initial application stage

That's probably the case with fixed term ISAs but it wouldn't apply to instant access ones.

My plan is to get my money out of DCU into an instant access ISA as fast as possible. Once it is in 'safe waters', I might then move it to elsewhere. Remember you can transfer just as often as you like unless the ISA provider and the Regulators are in cohorts against you - which so far seems to only apply to the DCU.

darren72

Probably not too important who to transfer it to then initially - Get it transferred out and then look at any new deals etc as they come along ?

I've just checked my Cash ISA and my first deposit is showing on 6th May 2014.

Does this mean my maturity date will in fact be in June - rather then May ? - I seem to remember that it matures the month after ?

colsten

The maturity date depends on the initial deposit (according to a document you can find on google groups). So your maturity date appears to be June 5

gwapenut

darren72 wrote: »

Probably not too important who to transfer it to then initially

Actually, I think it is vitally important to choose a fast, responsive institution. I echo Colsten's post about a safe haven with a fair rate for an interim step.

The way I see it, there may only be a small window of opportunity to effect transfers until the ISA depletion means capital reserves fall to critical and the shutters come down again. You don't want a slow, useless institution handling your ISA transfer, and meaning you don't get out in time.

On that note, any recommendations? I hear Yorkshire Bank are best avoided, and my own experience of nationwide, admittedly 4 years ago (a "never again" experience) was that it took them nearly 4 months to transfer one nationwide ISA maturing into another. Sure, they backdated it, but for a full month my funds disappeared completely form my online banking records, without trace, while the slow transfer was effected. They couldn't have cared less when I complained. Backlogs are one thing, but in the same institution you don't close down one ISA until you're ready to open the next one.