ISA transfer long delay

Prudencerules33

Hello

In April I rave requested to transfer a cash ISA from Virgin money to Halifax cash/share  ISA. On chasing the process the Virgin money customer advisor says the money has been sent to the Halifax but the halifax are now saying it is going to take a further 12 weeks before we get the money in our Halifax account. Does anybody know why it is taking so long? Halifax are just saying " we are particularly busy at the moment" but covid or not this surely this is unacceptable....It also begs the question should i expect interest to be credited my account over this 12 weeks? but really juast want the money in my Halifax account.

eskbanker

There isn't such a thing as a "Halifax cash/share  ISA", as it's either one or the other, but if it's a cash ISA you're transferring to and the money has already left Virgin Money then interest paid by Halifax should be backdated to when that happened.  If you're transferring to a S&S ISA then cash there typically won't earn interest but if you can demonstrate that you've been unable to invest because of the delay, and lost out because of that, then they should be able and willing to offer some sort of recompense.

No idea why it should take 12 weeks from here - in general ISA transfers have been slower during the pandemic and the tax year changeover is always going to be a busy time, but stating in advance that a further delay of 12 weeks is unusual.

masonic

Assuming it is a Halifax S&S ISA, then for comparison, I did a couple of cash transfers into my iWeb (part of Halifax Sharedealing) S&S ISA during the first lockdown and in both instances the money was credited within 10 working days of the transfer cheque being sent. If they are saying they now have a 12 week backlog of inward transfers to process then that doesn't sound acceptable... or plausible.

dldldl

I am waiting on a SSISA transfer from EQi - the form said it should take 30days max but EQi have now had the cash in the account for at least a week and I cant see what they are waiting for - surely this is all computerised and just needs someone somewhere to press a button??  I wonder if transfer delays are a form of penalty to dissuade people from switching??

grumiofoundation

On iWeb when I go on to the ISAtransfer page it says 

“Stock transfer delays
Due to the unprecedented demand for our service we're currently receiving a large amount of transfer requests which means transfers are likely to take longer than usual. We are currently experiencing delays of around 12 weeks and we are working hard to process our transfers as quickly as possible. We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause” 

masonic

dldldl said:

I am waiting on a SSISA transfer from EQi - the form said it should take 30days max but EQi have now had the cash in the account for at least a week and I cant see what they are waiting for - surely this is all computerised and just needs someone somewhere to press a button??  I wonder if transfer delays are a form of penalty to dissuade people from switching??

They would be entitled to wait for trades to settle, but that would be more like 3 working days, not a whole week. It's not all computerised. There are a couple of different electronic systems for ISA transfers, unless both providers are signed up to a compatible system, transfers revert to paper-based with the money being sent by cheque. Many providers do not support electronic transfers at all. That's not really an excuse for money sitting in your account for days waiting for a cheque to be produced, although you may wish to confirm that hasn't already happened - the balance may just not have been updated yet.

masonic

grumiofoundation said:

On iWeb when I go on to the ISAtransfer page it says 

“Stock transfer delays
Due to the unprecedented demand for our service we're currently receiving a large amount of transfer requests which means transfers are likely to take longer than usual. We are currently experiencing delays of around 12 weeks and we are working hard to process our transfers as quickly as possible. We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause” 

That's getting progressively worse over time. They coped quite well during the first lockdown and seem to have started going off the rails in the last 6 months.

Amoux

I'm too having problems transferring my S&S ISA at Hargreaves to Freetrade. It's a simple cash transfer (stocks have been sold to cash), and I started the transfer beginning of April! Freetrade have said they have chased multiple times, I've sent HL a message too with no reply as of yet (over a week). 

I'm really not sure what's going on. My cash has been sitting there for over 2 months! And Hargreaves are refusing to answer my messages. They justify their high fees with supposedly excellent customer service. I'm very tempted to submit a formal complaint to HL but not sure if this will make matters worse. 

soulsaver

IWebb are having problems too: I posted their transfer request mid May for a Early June maturity of a Ftb Isa (KRBS).

Kent tell me they've not seen the request.

I got through in my 3rd 40 minute attempt to get call IWebb when someone on CS, who gave me the impression she doesn't know anything about anything, tried to tell me that the transfer team say they've sent it to KRBS & ... did I want it sent again?

The 'um's and 'er' s gave me no confidence at all, I thought I smelt bovine ...

I decided I'd use Interactive, and while I spoke with IWebb I  filled in the II online transfer form.

Very efficient start of the process, albeit it did warn it could take up to 5 weeks?

For a cash isa? Apparently Electronic?

Really?

I suspect low cash deposit interest rates have started a stampede to shares. 

dldldl

As the 30days transfer time is up, I emailed EQi this morning asking when the transfer will happen and no reply as yet.  I'm now concerned that things are going to get more complicated as EQi are being taken over by ii and its due to happen 26/27 June.   If EQi couldnt honour the 30days max transfer time they should have said so at the outset.

So who should I complain to, to get the transfer done?  The FCA?  my MP?...

SMcGill

I think you need to raise a formal complaint with the provider first, and if you’re not happy with the handling / outcome of that you can complain to Financial Ombudsman Service.