Dubious practice by Fidelty..?

innovate

C_Mababejive wrote: »

Anyway,,lesson learned,,their loss not mine. I will get my money back and they wont see any more of it.

You realise that if you aren't prepared to provide photo ID and proof of address, than any financial institution will perhaps be too difficult to use for you?

Rollinghome

dunstonh wrote: »

Common sense is not allowed. We don't operate in a world of common sense. We operate in a world of tick boxes and being able to prove you are doing what you say you are doing. If you cant prove it the FCA chucks out fines in the millions.

That's very much the point I was making. No wonder customers are frustrated when they are inconvenienced by being required to jump through hoops that both they and the institution know make no sense and is an exercise required for no practical reason other than to tick boxes.

At a more trivial level, people are often rightly peeved when asked by banks why they are withdrawing cash. It's hardly a major inconvenience but will irritate many because they know that few crooks will be caught because they couldn't invent a plausible answer. It's a pointless intrusion without any likely real benefit.

When I opened my first current account (at the Westminster branch of the Westminster Bank long before it merged with National Provincial or was taken over by RBS) it was standard practice to require two professional referees to open an account. (I didn't need to because of my job.)

Now it's not uncommon for people to operate 20 or more current accounts and they meet the monthly funding requirements by passing £1000 in and straight out of each of the 20 accounts - often within minutes on the same day. With the 20 debit cards supplied, up to £4000 a day can be withdrawn from any ATM.

None of this is apparently regarded as out of the way. And yet someone is supposedly regarded as acting suspiciously for selling his £1000 unit trust investment.

I also find it odd that anyone should regard buying a unit trust as a "long-term arrangement" when there's no undertaking to that effect as there would be with investment bonds. Since when has that been the case? I not infrequently hold shareholdings, including ITs, for far less than a month, sometimes just days and at one time used to do the same with index-tracking unit trusts as a cheap way to buy the market. As far as I'm aware it has never caused the slightest suspicion.

There now seems to be a bizarre inconsistency around what is seen as suspicious behaviour and if there's any real intention that crooks are to be caught then there needs to be more than just box ticking but some joined up thinking.

innovate wrote: »

You realise that if you aren't prepared to provide photo ID and proof of address, than any financial institution will perhaps be too difficult to use for you?

I've never had to produce photo ID for any bank, stockbroker, or other financial institution in my life.

Are you often required to produce photo ID and is there any particular justification or reason do you suppose?

MarcoM

What happens if a customer were to sell a 300k investment held with a platform, transfers the money to HSBC with the intention of using it to buy a house. HSBC freeze the account for thirty days and the customer cannot complete the purchase and pay solicitors etc etc. Can the bank be held responsible for the failed house purchase?

BillJones

C_Mababejive wrote: »

Anyway,,lesson learned,,their loss not mine. I will get my money back and they wont see any more of it.

At your level of investment you were probably costing them more than you were paying them, so you've likely done them a favour.

innovate

Rollinghome wrote: »

Are you often required to produce photo ID and is there any particular justification or reason do you suppose?

I have lived at the same address for over 20 years and have always been on the ER, so I usually pass electronic ID verification. I would have no problem providing proof of my ID if I was asked to do so by a reputable financial firm. I would have a massive issue if I was asked the sort of auxilliary questions Selftrade have been asking, and to tell any bank clerk what I am planning to spend my money on because questions like that are an intrusion into my private life.

C_Mababejive

BillJones wrote: »

At your level of investment you were probably costing them more than you were paying them, so you've likely done them a favour.

It was just an initial purchase. My TDW and HL acconts are maxed to a level that i dont want to exceed. I like to spread it around a bit.

C_Mababejive

Well it is now 30th May and this company are still withholding MY money as if i am some Costa Del Sol crime baron who is flooding the UK with crack cocaine or something..!!

To date i have photocopied my Passport, My photocard driving licence, my paper counterpart driving licence and included an original and recent credit card statement from a well known high street bank bearing all my personal details and guess what? They continue to nit pick and have returned said docs and are asking for more.

And what are we talking about..? £1,000

I will never never deal with this rubbish company again. I have accounts with two other major investment companies,with various credit card companies,my own bank and an on line peer to peer lending account and never,never have i suffered this kind of treatment.

A totally rubbish company.

BillJones

C_Mababejive wrote: »

It was just an initial purchase. My TDW and HL acconts are maxed to a level that i dont want to exceed. I like to spread it around a bit.

That's not really right now, is it, as this issue came about when you tried to withdraw it again, not when you started to add to it.

Unless what you were intending to do was open the account, empty it, then re-fund it. Frankly, that doesn't sound much like the activity of someone planning to build up a large position.

C_Mababejive

BillJones wrote: »

That's not really right now, is it, as this issue came about when you tried to withdraw it again, not when you started to add to it.

Unless what you were intending to do was open the account, empty it, then re-fund it. Frankly, that doesn't sound much like the activity of someone planning to build up a large position.

I frequently shunt far larger amounts in and out of my other accounts without any questions being raised. Its equally possible i would have moved money in/out of my fledgling Fidelity account. Its my money. I can do as i wish with it. However when i do get my money back from Fidelty i wont be dealing with them again and i merely post my experience for the benefit of others.

dunstonh

this company are still withholding MY money as if i am some Costa Del Sol crime baron who is flooding the UK with crack cocaine or something..!!

How do they know you are not?

o date i have photocopied my Passport, My photocard driving licence, my paper counterpart driving licence and included an original and recent credit card statement from a well known high street bank bearing all my personal details and guess what? They continue to nit pick and have returned said docs and are asking for more.

Were the copies certified?