Covid Savings Loss

Tubularbells

Hi v. new to this forum!
I have a help to buy ISA, my first issue was although I could deposit 1200 in the first month my bank successfully blocked any payments I tried to make , as they stated it was only possible to deposit £200/month ( but in the first month I could not deposit a thing 4 months later of trying to deposit anything !!! it finally accepted payments of £200)
BUT, my question to the bank recently was met with admiration. !!!
I have had to use my savings to help float my standing orders and D/d during c19.. I asked the back can I deposit more to help it return to the level before lockdown commenced?
Answer.. no only £200 /month but we will go away and ask.
Response No only £200 / month
part 2 .. Can I return to the ISA the amount I had to withdraw after lockdown commenced?
Answer...."good question *** " I think I will need to go and ask the senior advisory team. I will hold this as a complaint for you Mr. " *** "
Response.. The government will not allow more than £200 / month but your suggestion to be able to bulk deposit the amount withdrawn during Lockdown is fantastic , it was a selfless question, however we advise you to write to your MP and ask them how this could be done.
..Money advisers and forum folk . please help me to write or formulate this letter.. I am not one for words .
kind Regards
TooblarBells

grumiofoundation

You post is incredibly confusing but to summarise my understanding (correct me if I am wrong)

You had some problems initially, possibly because you tried to pay in £1200 each month?
 
But your question is regarding the fact you have withdrawn from Help to Buy ISA and now want to deposit more than the £200 per month allowed (quote below from help to buy website)?

The bank says no but that this question is "selfless" and that you should write to your MP about this?

You can withdraw money from your Help to Buy: ISA account at any time. But you can’t put all the money you’ve withdrawn straight back into the account – you’re still only able to save up to £200 in every month. For example, if you deposit £200 and then withdraw £50 in the same month, you will have to wait until the next calendar month to make another deposit.

Tubularbells said:

I am not one for words .

Agreed

NorthernJoe

Sounds like you can deposit £200 / month

kuratowski

I wouldn't bother writing to your MP.  The Help to Buy ISAs have been withdrawn for new customers, they're a legacy product, so there is no political interest in them any more and zero chance of the rules changing now.

bowlhead99

Tubularbells said:

Response.. The government will not allow more than £200 / month but your suggestion to be able to bulk deposit the amount withdrawn during Lockdown is fantastic , it was a selfless question, however we advise you to write to your MP and ask them how this could be done.
..Money advisers and forum folk . please help me to write or formulate this letter.. I am not one for words .

Simply write:

"Dear [name of MP],

I saved some money in a financial product (Help-to-Buy: ISA) which restricts the amount of new money deposited per month, but gets me a bonus at the end, funded by the taxpayer, if I use the product to help purchase a qualifying residential property by the end of 2029. I realise I'm lucky to have the product because it is has been removed from sale to new customers who don't already have it.

However, I recently took money out of the product due to generally being a bit short of cash during the covid-19 lockdown. When doing this, I knew that there would be a limit on how fast I could put money back into the product, but I needed the money for general expenses - which was more important to me at the time than building my savings towards a free government bonus on a first-time property purchase.

It's frustrating that I am restricted to putting money back into the product at a maximum of £200 per month. There are probably other people in the same boat. I recognise that I am lucky to even have the product which no longer exists for new customers after 2019, but it feels like this is an undue hardship. On behalf of myself and the others affected by the hardships caused by this global pandemic, I would be grateful if you and your colleagues would consider changing the law on how fast we can contribute money to this old product and still get a taxpayer-funded bonus.

Yours Sincerely,
[Name] "



Presumed response from MP:

Dear Mr X,
Thank you for your letter. As a result of Covid-19, many of my other constituents have suffered actual hardships, such as going bankrupt or dying. Your issue seems somewhat trivial in the grand scheme of things and I don't think it would be a great use of parliamentary time to debate an amendment to the law to accommodate your preference to contribute to your Help-to-Buy ISA at a faster rate. Sorry about that.
However, if you are under the age of 40, you might consider using a "Lifetime ISA" product instead which allows faster contributions (up to a total amount of £4000 per tax year instead of £200 per month) and provides a 25% bonus which can be used to purchase a qualifying property or fund retirement.
Now I'm going back to helping other constituents with their more serious issues. Cheers
Your MP

Tubularbells

NorthernJoe said:

Sounds like you can deposit £200 / month

yes £200 / month exactly , but my bank refused to let me deposit the initial £1200 and failed 5 times so gave up !!
their response was you can only do it once, I said I did but your system would not let me do it even once !!

Tubularbells

grumiofoundation said:

You post is incredibly confusing but to summarise my understanding (correct me if I am wrong)

You had some problems initially, possibly because you tried to pay in £1200 each month?
 
But your question is regarding the fact you have withdrawn from Help to Buy ISA and now want to deposit more than the £200 per month allowed (quote below from help to buy website)?

The bank says no but that this question is "selfless" and that you should write to your MP about this?

You can withdraw money from your Help to Buy: ISA account at any time. But you can’t put all the money you’ve withdrawn straight back into the account – you’re still only able to save up to £200 in every month. For example, if you deposit £200 and then withdraw £50 in the same month, you will have to wait until the next calendar month to make another deposit.

Tubularbells said:

I am not one for words .

Agreed

Yes I was denied the initial £1200 , and had attempted to pay it in , but was refused as the system only allowed this in the month of opening, But as I was unsuccessful in depositing it initially and when attempting again the following day and failed.
I never tried to deposit £1200 each month ( ok) 
and yes wrote to my MP as my bank actually praised me for bringing this to their attention, although a gov backed savings plan there may be a work around for using the funds in covid loss. I await my MP response and will post.

Tubularbells

grumiofoundation said:

You post is incredibly confusing but to summarise my understanding (correct me if I am wrong)

You had some problems initially, possibly because you tried to pay in £1200 each month?
 
But your question is regarding the fact you have withdrawn from Help to Buy ISA and now want to deposit more than the £200 per month allowed (quote below from help to buy website)?

The bank says no but that this question is "selfless" and that you should write to your MP about this?

You can withdraw money from your Help to Buy: ISA account at any time. But you can’t put all the money you’ve withdrawn straight back into the account – you’re still only able to save up to £200 in every month. For example, if you deposit £200 and then withdraw £50 in the same month, you will have to wait until the next calendar month to make another deposit.

Tubularbells said:

I am not one for words .

Agreed

I hate writing, and keyboards make it worse !! touch typing is awful so it takes me twice as long then i struggle with flow of words , but thanks for your patience and great response. Tublarbells

Tubularbells

I got a glitch from my bank, i tried paying initially a lump sum but the bank kept rejecting it.
I had not made a deposit yet. Just opened it.
Setting up the standing order was ok at £200/month
but... i wanted to transfer a lump over..
FAILED... lol after several attempts and days I gave up.
then realised I read the rules lump sum deposit was a once only deal.,,,
BUT I had unsuccessfully completed this...
..
fast forward to a few months ago. during lockdown I had a response from the bank and the treasury.
I had asked if possible we would be able to catch up a bit on deposits.
Generic response from both including an M.P.
..
currently depositing £200 / month 
and now see that the option to switch it to a LISA may be an option.
will research further.
thanks for reply 
T