Best flat rate SIPP: Interactive Investor or Halifax / iWeb?

bilbomacuser

My SIPP with Charles Stanley Direct has reached a point where the fees are becoming excessive. A combination of the value of my pension increasing (from regular contributions) and their increase in % from 0.25% to 0.35%. 

The biggest problem with SIPP fees is that they keep changing. However, based on what they are currently, it seems that I would be slightly better off with interactive investor.

however I have a couple of reservations : it seems some people have their fees taken from outside the tax free wrapper - which probably makes Halifax cheaper for me. Also, on Trustpilot their reviews all seem fake - so I have doubts about whether I trust them as a company. Finally, it doesn’t help that there doesn’t seem to be a way of asking them questions before signing up - their email form says allow 10 days but I didn’t get a reply at all. 

The downside of Halifax seems to be the higher trading fees, would need telephone fees for buying gilts, and the £60 transfer in fee vs ii giving regular cash back and ‘free’ transfer in. 

What are people’s experiences of using these two platforms? (I’m ruling out iWeb as regular investments make them more expensive for me, and their web front end looks prehistoric). 

LHW99

II is OK now, they were poor a few years back when a lot of people were changing platforms and they were overloaded. The website is fine and they have a good range of stocks, funds etc (IMO).

They won't take SIPP fees from the SIPP account though. AJBell did, but not II for some reason.

coyrls

LHW99 said:

They won't take SIPP fees from the SIPP account though. AJBell did, but not II for some reason.

II take the SIPP fees from my SIPP account.

LHW99

coyrls said:

LHW99 said:

They won't take SIPP fees from the SIPP account though. AJBell did, but not II for some reason.

II take the SIPP fees from my SIPP account.

Have you been transferred in from one of the companies they have taken over?

bilbomacuser

coyrls said:

LHW99 said:

They won't take SIPP fees from the SIPP account though. AJBell did, but not II for some reason.

II take the SIPP fees from my SIPP account.

It would be really interesting to hear exactly what factors play a role in this.  Is it people that had accounts with other companies taken over, is it people who have other investment accounts (non-SIPP). Perhaps it’s to do with whether there is cash available within the sipp?

I really need to find out as if would effectively significantly increase the cost for me if it wasn’t taken from the sipp account.

unfortunately it seems to be almost impossible to find out information from II without first opening an account. 

Anyone here with an ii account could ask them exactly what scenarios lead to them taking fees from within the sipp account or not?

coyrls

LHW99 said:

coyrls said:

LHW99 said:

They won't take SIPP fees from the SIPP account though. AJBell did, but not II for some reason.

II take the SIPP fees from my SIPP account.

Have you been transferred in from one of the companies they have taken over?

Yes, I transferred from ATS when II took them over.  I rang them to confirm that they would take fees from my SIPP account, as I do not have a Trading Account (which is where their documentation says the fees are taken from).  They confirmed that they would take fees from my SIPP if I didn't have a Trading Account.

coyrls

bilbomacuser said:

Anyone here with an ii account could ask them exactly what scenarios lead to them taking fees from within the sipp account or not?

Or you could ring them and ask?

[Deleted User]

bilbomacuser said:

coyrls said:

LHW99 said:

They won't take SIPP fees from the SIPP account though. AJBell did, but not II for some reason.

II take the SIPP fees from my SIPP account.

It would be really interesting to hear exactly what factors play a role in this.  Is it people that had accounts with other companies taken over, is it people who have other investment accounts (non-SIPP). Perhaps it’s to do with whether there is cash available within the sipp?

I really need to find out as if would effectively significantly increase the cost for me if it wasn’t taken from the sipp account.

unfortunately it seems to be almost impossible to find out information from II without first opening an account. 

Anyone here with an ii account could ask them exactly what scenarios lead to them taking fees from within the sipp account or not?

Thanks for the info - I have just set up a SIPP for ii but didn't have a trading account. I did see this on the opening view of my account "Your next payment will be taken on or around

10th March, 2020

This will be taken from your Trading Account Balance"

I have now deposited some money into a Trading Account to cover the fees tomorrow
EDIT - when you set up a direct debit for the fees it doesn't hit the trading account at all but hits your bank account

bilbomacuser

coyrls said:

bilbomacuser said:

Anyone here with an ii account could ask them exactly what scenarios lead to them taking fees from within the sipp account or not?

Or you could ring them and ask?

It actually hadn't occurred to me to ring them!

The answer is:

They will take the fee from within the SIPP (ie. tax efficiently) if

1) The SIPP is your only account with ii
and
2) You don't set up a direct debit to pay fees (which is separate from a monthly contribution direct debit)

If both of these apply, they will take it from the cash balance of the SIPP.

bilbomacuser

Annoyingly both Halifax and ii told me that if I want to change the amount of my monthly direct debit I will have to post them new forms.  What a hassle!  When I used to be with Hargreaves Lansdown I could change it myself when logged in - I thought it was inconvenient having to send Charles Stanley Direct a secure message to update it!  I use a value path and so change my contribution amount every 3 months, so this would make ii and Halifax extremely inconvenient.