Top Cash ISAs Discussion Area

bill86

Cuidadosa wrote: »

I'm still not sure that you can open any new ISA without funding it... From what I see, all of them require a minimum £1 deposit which I guess is part of the opening process...

Can anyone confirm for sure that they've been able to open the Santander ISA without funding it?

I tried to do this online last friday, but phoned up today to check on it and was told my application has been abandoned, however they couldn't tell me why and the woman on the phone suggested that I make the application over the phone. The person I spoke to mentioned no problem with funding the account in the new tax year and therefore opening it with a zero balance. I should find out if its gone through by the end of the week!

jicms

The very reason I asked this question here rather than phoning Santander as it's a minefield getting through to them and then I'm not confident about the answers they give!

jicms

Cuidadosa wrote: »

I'm still not sure that you can open any new ISA without funding it... From what I see, all of them require a minimum £1 deposit which I guess is part of the opening process...

Can anyone confirm for sure that they've been able to open the Santander ISA without funding it?

I've just tried and they ask "How much do you want to open your new ISA with, minimum £1"! Will I be asked for payment immediately or can I hold back till 6th April and then deposit £5340?

Lokolo_2

jicms wrote: »

I've just tried and they ask "How much do you want to open your new ISA with, minimum £1"! Will I be asked for payment immediately or can I hold back till 6th April and then deposit £5340?

No, from what others have posted on the forum, they will give you a certain number of days to make the deposit, forgot the exact number but its more than a week or two so you'll be fine holding back until April 6th

jicms

I was slightly concerned as I already have a Santander ISA this year so have a bank account linked to it. Hopefully they wouldn't use this to take the funds immediately. I've checked the box "Link to a new card (this will be issued once your account is opened)". I'll apply saying I want to open it with £5340.

Lokolo_2

jicms wrote: »

I was slightly concerned as I already have a Santander ISA this year so have a bank account linked to it. Hopefully they wouldn't use this to take the funds immediately. I've checked the box "Link to a new card (this will be issued once your account is opened)". I'll apply saying I want to open it with £5340.

Yes that's the best way to do it, certainly as the rate is likely to drop within the next few days! :eek:

purplestar133

I'm getting very concerned about my Santander Flexible ISA application now. I applied online last week (left it late as I won't be funding it until the new tax year, and will want as much of the 12 month tracker rate I can get!). I still haven't heard back and I don't want to miss out on the 3.3% rate. I've phoned around a few Santander numbers this morning and they all tell me they can't see the progress of online applications on their systems, that I have to fill in the form online. I'll filled in the contact form online and have no doubt it will take them an age to get back to me.

I'm wondering if my application has stalled because I said I would be funding it with £0, as I didn't want to pay anything in at that time.

Has anyone else done the same and had problems?
As I don't think I have time to wait to hear back from them, would I be able to apply again, this time saying I would fund it with the full amount, and then not doing so until the new tax year? That would be on the presumption that my current application has failed/stalled and isn't valid.

Argh!

Gigglepig

This may be a warning to others who consider using their online application system - I noticed the Santander online application deadline is the 31st, but given how slow they are I don't see how you'd be able to deposit the money within the deadline at this point

I applied online in February. Then, received a letter that they had tried to email me "but that the email was either blocked or returned by my email provider" - this I found unlikely, since I receive all other email just fine and I have checked my spam folders too.

The letter asked for ID papers, so I took my ID into a branch on 18 March - they were not able to help me, so I posted copies first class the same day, with all my phone numbers clearly written on the papers in case there were issues.

I did not get a response from Santander, so I submitted an online tracker form. Apart from the auto reply email on March 28 they haven't responded to that either.

I tried the site again today, tried to call, but there was an automatic message that the phone staff could not access my online application.
So I went back to the website to search for alternative contact numbers, and found a complaints number. When you call it, there is an option to "inquire" rather than "complain" which lets you speak to someone.

I then had a rather long chat with a customer advisor A who said they had a previous address registered on me and that this caused a problem. I have not had a Santander account in the past, but had an Alliance & Leicester account which was closed in 2007... He said he'd transfer the call to the Santander online sales team and I went on hold for a good long while (and yes, the phone line has irritating music and no information about waiting time). Still on hold so I will update my post later if I get through :-(

Update - customer advisor A said I could not speak to the ISA folks (?) but to email the customer service dept. This did not seem like a good solution to me since I already tried the online form. He also said that everyone who applied would get their account open by Friday. I am not confident about this, because if there is an issue and they let me know on Friday there is hardly any time to sort it out. Then the line was cut off, I think he must have accidentally hung up on me :-(

I waited a bit and he did not call back, so I tried the same number again. This advisor, B, didn't listen to me at all and insisted on transferring me to to the ISA dept (which advisor A had told me earlier today could not help). I tried to protest several times that this wasn't going to help but he ignored me. I also tried asking for his name but he had already transferred me.

So I spoke to customer advisor C, who said because the account was not open yet (which I obviously had explained to advisor I needed to speak to another department.

So I am now on the line with customer advisor D. He insists that I need to call the department which I called earlier today, (customer advisor i.e. I already know they wouldn't be able to help me. But at least customer advisor D agreed that he'd investigate and call me back, so I don't have to be on hold. By now I am pretty tired of going around in circles :-)

Update - Santander advisor D called back and now says they did not receive the copies of ID which I sent, and have therefore abandoned the application. (They did not send a letter or anything to let me know, and also did not let me know in response to the application tracker.) Based on this whole experience I would not recommend the online application system :-(

D conferred with managers for some time then said the only way I could now get the account set up smoothly would be over the phone, and transferred call to advisor E.

Advisor E said that at this point we are so close to the deadline that if he sets the account up today, ID papers won't get there on time for it to be opened by the deadline. Therefore, he transferred me to a branch to get an appointment.

The branch advisor, F, said they have no appointments in the next few days, but I have arranged to see them Monday. Phew.

Had I known how much trouble this would be I'd had to reconsider whether the amount of interest earned was worth the hassle!

Cuidadosa

0_0

I think I said I wouldn't be funding it this year (I tried to be honest, I think it was one of the options on the drop down menu)

We'll see! I only applied today...

psychic_teabag

See also this thread.

It should be okay to apply again - you can open as many ISAs as you want, since the only restriction is that you can only pay into one in any tax year. Perhaps apply by phone rather than online ? You might be able to get better feedback that way. Could apply in branch, but they might demand the initial deposit there and then.