Post office Online Saver - closed account mid-tax-year, how to get a statement of interest ?

d2446679

(I posted this thread before but it got swallowed up by the "only page 1 and 2 showing" bug, so I'm re-posting rather than bump the original thread).

TL;DR - Need to fill in a Self Assessment but I don't know how to get hold of the Certificate of Interest for a closed Post Office Online Saver

I had an Online Saver account with Post Office savings which I closed in about June/July last year. It was paying monthly interest so I would have had interest paid in April, May and June (of the 2019-20 tax year) but stupidly I did not make a note of the interest amounts before closing the account, as I assumed (!) it would be auto-generated as part of the account closing process. The interest amounts are probably not more than £4-5 each month and it was only for 3 months of the tax year - but I still need to report them on the self assessment :-(

Now I have no visibility of that account in their online banking since I can't see "closed" accounts, I have tried phoning them a few months ago and was told to wait until the end of the tax year and then see - I have heard nothing, not received a letter in the post and in fact they sent an email upon closing the account saying they won't send a paper statement unless I phone "this number" and request it, which is why I phoned them.

I tried calling again today but understandably with corona-geddon they are limited in what they can do - transferred me to another department who may be able to help but after waiting in a queue for a long time (which I can totally understand why - people having to wfh, off sick, self-isolating etc) I've given up on that for now!

Has anyone here been in the same situation? Closed a Post Office Savings account during the tax year and then need to get a "retrospective" certificate of interest?

The alternative is I could make an educated estimate of how much it might have been and submit the self assessment with (acknowledged) "estimated" figures but I'd rather not do that if I don't have to as it seems to be inviting an audit!! (I am doing everything by the book but I expect an audit is still a massive nuisance.)

Thanks in advance!

colsten

Is the total amount of interest you received from all your savings likely to be more than your Personal Savings Allowance? 

d2446679

colsten said:

Is the total amount of interest you received from all your savings likely to be more than your Personal Savings Allowance? 

No, very much less than that. But I have to fill in a SA for unrelated reasons, so as such I have to fill in the amounts of interest I did receive (even if they were just £5 a month) accurately.... sad face!

Swipe

Not that it's any help to the OP now but I always leave a few pence in old savings accounts for this reason. Then close them down later after they've been accounted for in my personal tax account.

colsten

d2446679 said:

colsten said:

Is the total amount of interest you received from all your savings likely to be more than your Personal Savings Allowance? 

No, very much less than that. But I have to fill in a SA for unrelated reasons, so as such I have to fill in the amounts of interest I did receive (even if they were just £5 a month) accurately.... sad face!

In which case, just enter an approximate amount for the interest. Nobody will follow up if your actual interest is below the Personal Savings Allowance, even if it differs slightly from the amount reported by the banks to HMRC.

Mr.Saver

Have you tried to contact their customer service? I tried this on a few other financial institutes, and it worked every time. They always keep the record of the recently closed accounts, and can send that to you if you ask.

badger09

Mr.Saver said:

Have you tried to contact their customer service? I tried this on a few other financial institutes, and it worked every time. They always keep the record of the recently closed accounts, and can send that to you if you ask.

"...contact customer service"   This is query about a Post Office Online Saver!

OP, just use your best estimate.

d2446679

Swipe said:

Not that it's any help to the OP now but I always leave a few pence in old savings accounts for this reason. Then close them down later after they've been accounted for in my personal tax account.

Yeah, I probably would have done that but the terms of this account (not sure how much they are enforced) is that you can have only one of that account at a time. I was replacing it with a new equivalent one (also with post office) as the "bonus" savings rate was expiring.

Albermarle

Put £25 in the tax form. The chance of anybody checking it is close to zero and the chance of anybody in HMRC taking any action because it is £5 out is zero.

Cef21

I have the same problems with the P.O. every year. They are very backward as regards what you can do on line. You could write to them if it is not urgent. I trace the payment from the P.O. to my linked account , I  keep as proof of what was paid on closure.