Leeds 2yr FRISA issue 65 - was online application form incorrect?

butterflymum

It seems, according to Leeds, it must have been:

Helping someone re above. They have been told the application form they submitted was incorrect for type of account.

I know the form they submitted was the one that was printed off, as instructed, at end of the online application, and then posted.

The letter they have received doesn't say that Leeds supplied the wrong form during the online process, so they are confused as to what has gone wrong.

Anyone else who applied online, during the very short period earlier this month when Issue 65 was available, have a similar experience?

Their cheque etc has also been returned and they have been asked to complete a new form and send everything back again.

Wondering, if this has happened to lots of online applications, if it will mean back to square one with the already longer than usual delays in processing them due to volume of original uptake.

KGriff

I have two 'differing' stories with Leeds 2yr FRISA. My wife and I applied online on 8th April and the application forms, cheque and transfer docs went off in the post box the same day, in two separate envelopes.

My ISA was setup on the 13th and then my deposit cheque was paid in and I could see my account and balance online through the Leeds site. No problems so far.

Then on or about the 20th our Leeds ISA accounts disappeared from our online access.

On the 23rd I received my passbook and letter etc. So I was fine but nothing came through for the wife. (I told her that the staff probably didn't like her :-))

On the 28th my old ISA, at a different provider, was closed down and I assume the dosh went walkabouts and on its way down the motorway to Leeds thanks to the transfer form. I believe I now have to later pop into a Leeds branch to get my passbook updated when it clears, which is a bit of a pain as its a 30 mile round trip. There's no way I will send it for updating via the post.

Ok all was fine for me... My wife however has not heard a thing... Not a dickie bird and her deposit cheque hasn't been cashed etc. (they really don't like her after all, perhaps?)

Her Leeds BS ISA account was originally available for viewing with a zero balance and that too disappeared online on or around the 20th. The wife says she feels unwanted ... So nothing new there then.:rotfl:

So today is the 29th and we made a phone call to Albion Street and they told my wife her application was received on the 15th, but they have been totally swamped by the subscription to the 2yr FRISA, that they are still working through the ones that got to them on the 15th. I assume it's a paper mountain for that particular day, hence they closed down any further subscriptions to it that same day.

I'm not upset by any of this by the way, I just feel sorry for the people who are sat there in Albion Street Leeds, having to deal and cope with what is probably a mountain of repetitive and laborious work... I bet for the people on the ground it must be soul destroying. I think a few computer glitches haven't helped either.

I appreciate you seem to have been given the wrong form to send off, but that has to be a computer glitch too, because it was a step by step procedure which resulted in a three page form to print out, but at least all you will have to do next is print the application from your account and sign it again and send it off in response to their letter.

I suspect they will have told you the same thing as they told my wife and that they promise to pay the interest from the date of initial receipt, which they should have a note of on their system.

I suspect they have had quite a few computer issues coping with the new financial year demand, adding to the backlog.

I'm just sad we can no longer see our ISA accounts online.. I didn't notice that in the small print. I must read things more thoroughly next time. It seems online access is unlikely to return either for such ISA holders... shame really, I like to see my money resting there and not doing anything.

Hopefully your matter and my wife's ISA as well will all be sorted soon... Fingers x'd. Then we simply have to forget them again for two whole years.

Meanwhile I will be off to the pub, with my best friend 'Victor Meldrew' and guess I will just be moaning to him, how 'poor' the savings rates are likely to be for the next few years. Funny enough he doesn't like my wife either.. He thinks I married her for her money ... er ... 33 years ago! :beer:

butterflymum

Thanks for replying, KGriff. Much appreciated.

I haven't applied for my own ISA yet this year, so hopefully when I do, it will go much smoother (and will probably be with a different provider anyhow).

Having seen the paperwork of the person I'm helping, though, I can confirm that it is a 3 page printed application form, which was completed online as part of opening process. To me, on looking, there is no 'Tax year 2015/16' mentioned on either the application part itself nor the declaration form, whereas on the blank forms the Leeds have now sent for completion, this is stated.

Would you happen to have kept a copy of your wife's application? If yes, would it be any trouble, to satisfy my curiosity, to check if similarly her forms have no 'Tax Year 2015/16' shown?

As said earlier, I do hope all those who applied using the online forms and who are still awaiting paperwork, don't also find everything is returned to them with a request that a new form be completed by hand.

KGriff

Yes I have copies in front of me..

Page 1 .. No mention of tax year.. Top right says 2 year fixed rate ISA (issue 65) .. And account number
Left hand side has customer reference number and applicants details which start with the name of applicant and ends with the email address.

Page 2.. Identification requirements and bank details and the page ends with interest instruction... No mention of a tax year.

Page 3 declarations.. It begins by saying 'I apply to subscribe for a cash ISA for the tax year 2915/2016 and each subsequent year till further notice.

There's then a section on assignment of conversion benefits, followed by section on 'use of personal information'

Then bottom of page is signature and date.

Does that help?

Let me know if you need anything else.

KGriff

Butterfly Mum.

The tax year is small print right at the very top of page 3 .. It would not surprise me that the printer has printed the page with a bit chopped off the top and missing... Probably a difference between having a printer set for A4 and the American Letter setting. A common problem with differences between the U.S. Paper size and U.K.

Surely if the form was dated on the 6th April or later, then common sense applies that it was intended for this financial years ISA.

Guess some people at financial institutions can't use common sense in these circumstances.. Just bureaucracy gone mad!.. It's more than their jobs worth for some people to apply a bit of common sense and read the date by the signature .. In any event ISA issue 65 wasn't available last financial year... So why have they made it so difficult for everyone?

butterflymum

Thanks, KGriff. Page 3 seems to be the problem one, but it doesn't seem to have been a case of their printer missing out a line or more at the start, as their page starts as quoted below and this matches the page 3 wording of the original saved file on their computer:

DECLARATIONS

I/We request that the above named type of account be opened in the name(s) set out above and that the Account is administered according to the above details.
I/We agree to be bound by the Terms and Conditions of the Account and the Society's Rules.
I/We can confirm that I/we have read a copy of the Account Terms & Conditions and Society's General Investment Conditions and the latest Summary Financial Statement.
I/We declare that this application form has been completed to the best of our knowledge and belief and that the information provided is true and accurate.
I/We agree to notify the Society of any change in circumstances in regards to the information provided in this application form.

Assignment of Conversion Benefits...

which to me, given the I/we statements, sounds as if it is a declaration for a single or joint savings account rather than an ISA, as obviously an ISA cannot be held in joint names. That said, it was what appeared on Page 3 of their ISA application, as at the bottom of the page , in the middle, in very small print it shows the allocated ISA account number.

So, sounds like the 'gremlins' have been at work on the online application pages and somehow allowed a 'stray' page 3 to appear in place of the correct one.

Glad to hear the 'gremlins' seem to have taken a shine to your wife and let her page 3 through as it should have been.

KGriff

In fact looking at both my ISA application page 3, compared to my wife's application page 3 they are completely different pages... Mine actually matches your declarations above with I/We etc. which appears to me to be wrong... Yet my application went through okay with no issues.

My wife's ISA page 3 looks totally correct .. And there is no mention of 'we' and it mentions the ISA year of 2015/16 at top of the page.. Strangely though her ISA has not been processed.

I reckon the error has suddenly come to the attention of the staff and they are in a 'tiz' on how to deal with the situation.

No wonder things appear to have come to a grinding halt. Clearly there is a big I.T. issue that is causing a substantial backlog.

Well that's how it looks ... I guess the issues will begin to emerge in the coming days.

gwapenut

Hi
I posted mine off on the 17th (applied on the Monday, a day or so before final curtain).

I too had something appear briefly in my online banking, and have had no acknowledgment, no transfer of old ISAs, etc.

If they do bounce it and ask me to do a new application form then I will do so but lodge a complaint claiming for the loss of interest for my transferred ISAs, some of which are having to stay in paltry holding accounts until Leeds get their act together.

Whether I complain anyway depends on how far outside the 14 day window they stray.... I am happy to cut them a little slack given the circumstances, so long as they don't get pedantic about application forms.

KGriff

I reckon butterfly mum has stumbled onto something here, because the page 3 signed declaration on my wife's ISA, is COMPLETELY different to the one I signed.

I reckon that they were part-way through, maybe a few days, into processing the applications, before someone noticed the error. Like I mentioned earlier my signed declaration looks like it was the wrong one and relates to savings accounts etc. but mine slipped through the net and was setup and completed.

Whereas my wife's Page 3 is correct and even makes mention of the ISA issue 65 name on it... but her application has not yet been processed. My bet is they are having to back-track now and dig out the earlier applications and somehow get them corrected. I guess I can expect a letter in the next few days/weeks.

Meanwhile my wife's ISA is on hold with her £15,240 sat in a non earning current account for two weeks and waiting for the cheque to be cashed .. Mind you they told us they would pay interest from the 15th (date application received) so we can't complain too much.

But like you say she has a larger amount, sat in a lower-paying ISA in Barclays, still waiting to be transferred, so I guess many in my wife's position may have cause to complain, if they don't get the transfers done soon.

Of course I'm only guessing this is what has happened at the Leeds. If it is correct, then I guess it couldn't have happened at a worse time for them.

I've no doubt if the delays drag on a while longer, the press may get a hold of it and perhaps then they will be forced to throw more resources at the problem... er... famous last words eh?

I was going to say that it must be quite bad as even my wife has started moaning about things... But that's normal for her anyway. (ha ..ha.. I do love her really! )

gwapenut

^ sofa for you tonight!

KGriff

Yes I have lost a fair bit of money down the back of the sofa too over the years..! I reckon I would just get a 'slap' these days.:)