missed ISA deadline

ReassuranceRequired

I completed an online ISA application for the 2019/20 tax year on the 28th March and sent a transfer ISA form plus a cheque to deposit funds for that current year in the post. These were recorded as received by the bank on the 30th march and I received a 'phone call from the bank confirming this and checking a number on the form with me. This member of staff confirmed that the transactions were going ahead in time for the 5th of April deadline as I had wanted.  The cheque I had sent was in my maiden name and I  had attached a note explaining that that was why it was a different name from the ISA account and with the reference number in case of any confusion. I have had no difficulty with this in past ISA lodgements and assumed there was no problem when speaking with the bank on the 30th who had the cheque and this info infront of them. However on the 9th of April I received a letter in the post returning my cheque as the name did not match the ISA account name. This letter was dated 1st of April and this is where my difficulty lies. Had the bank contacted me then or even within the next couple of days I would have had the opportunity to send an electronic transfer in time for the 2019/20 ISA year. As it is I am now being told that I have missed last years lodgement. My query is that as the bank have at least some responsibility for my funds not being lodged in time as they took nine days to tell me that they weren't accepting it ( and therefore leaving it too late for me to rectify the situation) is there any point in me trying to argue this further with them? 

eskbanker

There's no harm in logging a complaint, if they specifically said that it would all be OK but then failed to deliver.

Too late now obviously but if you had the option of depositing your 2019/20 contribution electronically, why didn't you do this in the first place?

ReassuranceRequired

I didn't have online banking set up and therefore sent the cheque in time. I could have quickly set up an electronic payment had I known it was required.

masonic

Did you speak to them about sending in a cheque in a different name from the ISA account? Did they tell you this would be ok?

I think your grounds for complaint rest entirely with this detail as this was the reason the payment was not completed. I don't think it is reasonable to assume that the person you spoke to on the 30th April had examined this cheque or noticed the discrepancy.

I think the letter not reaching you until after the end of the tax year would be explained away as beyond their reasonable control. Under normal circumstances it probably would have arrived in time, and their capacity to phone customers could have been severely limited at this time.

For future reference, it is not unusual for ISA managers to insist payments into an ISA are made from an account in the same name as the ISA. Some may relax this requirement if they hold evidence that you have changed your name. If you were intending to make a bank transfer from the same account, it too may have been rejected.

Alexland

This might also be an opportunity to get all your account(s), cheque book(s), etc updated to be in your current name to avoid delay or rejection in future.

ReassuranceRequired

I didn't speak to them prior to sending the cheque in as in the past it hasn't been an issue doing it this way but that has not been with this bank. I did put a note on the cheque saying why it was in a different name so the person who received it and rang me was aware of this then but I understand that dealing with this may not have been part of their role. The letter I received late asked for me to send in a marriage certificate. My frustration is that had I been rung on the 1st that gave me enough time to get that to them or sort a different mode of sending a lodgement. I suppose I am wondering if I did make an official complaint would the bank have it within their power to make the lodgement now ( maybe even using the original cheque which is dated well before the deadline) as a 2019/20 ISA allowance?

eskbanker

ReassuranceRequired said:

I suppose I am wondering if I did make an official complaint would the bank have it within their power to make the lodgement now ( maybe even using the original cheque which is dated well before the deadline) as a 2019/20 ISA allowance?

No, it wouldn't be in their power to turn back time like that, but if they accepted responsibility (and it's far from a given that they would) then they ought to offer some sort of compensation to reflect the fact that you missed out on your allowance.

masonic

ReassuranceRequired said:

I suppose I am wondering if I did make an official complaint would the bank have it within their power to make the lodgement now ( maybe even using the original cheque which is dated well before the deadline) as a 2019/20 ISA allowance?

No, they are not at liberty to do that.

If they upheld your complaint then the best they could do is give you some compensation to put you back into the situation you would have been in if the had phoned you and you were able to send the money electronically from an account in your current legal name, or provide them with the evidence they needed to process a payment from an account in your previous name. So the compensation would need to cover the additional tax you'll pay on your savings in the coming years as a result of not being able to utilise your 2019/20 ISA allowance.

However, there are extraordinary circumstances that would likely have made a prompt personal phonecall regarding the matter infeasible.

Alexland

I really don't think you have much of a case for ISA repair due to manager error when your cheque was from an old name.

dunstonh

ISA contributions need to know the source of funds.  Third party contributions can now be accepted but an explanation needs to exist.
Without an explanation being given (and evidence if necessary), you would expect the ISA provider to reject the cheque.
I would have asked you to do a bank transfer in this scenario of it that was not possible and a cheque was the only way, then a copy of the marriage certificate would have gone with the cheque.

My query is that as the bank have at least some responsibility for my funds not being lodged in time as they took nine days to tell me that they weren't accepting it ( and therefore leaving it too late for me to rectify the situation) is there any point in me trying to argue this further with them? 

Banks are not running at full capacity due to the Coronavirus. Post is not running at next day delivery either.  

Using a cheque that is not in your name introduces risks of failure under the Anti-Money-Laundering checks.  leaving it until last minute leaves little room for error.   So, you take responsibility there.   However, they did phone you up saying they had it and it was going through.    So, they have to take some responsibility there.   However, a lot of staff are working from home dealing with scanned copies of items and the person that rang may have seen the application and confirmed it was on time without realising that the cheque was incorrect.  Indeed, some providers will separate the cheque from the application to hand to a different team.

So, a complaint outcome is hard to predict.

However on the 9th of April I received a letter in the post returning my cheque as the name did not match the ISA account name.

Can you just confirm who returned the cheque to you.  Was it the ISA provider or was it your current account provider?  (and if its the same bank for both, then which department returned it).

There is a short window where ISA contributions can be allocated to the previous tax year even if the work for them is done in the weeks after.   You see it used a lot where tax year ends fall over a weekend or bank holiday.  The providers just need to ensure they have the cheque in their hands or funds in their account before tax year end.  However, I am not sure that could be utilised in this case.