Transfer of cash ISA from Coventry to Vanguard

biffer_2

I've initiated a transfer about 3 months ago.  I filled in the forms but nothing happened for 2 months.  I contacted Coventry but they stated they never received anything from Vanguard.  I then went back to Vanguard they confirmed they'd sent the application.  I waited a bit longer then asked Vanguard could I please have a copy of the email they sent to Coventry so I can maybe chase a reference.  I've been waiting about a week for them to provide this email because they said it will take some time.

I can't say I'm impressed with Vanguard at this point.  The correspondence with them has also been painful because there's a bug in their website and to reply to a message thread requires me to expand the browser window to the size of the conversation.  I've been dragging the window and making it taller and taller as the conversation progresses, it now has to be about 3x the height of the monitor for me to type my reply!  I guess I can start a new conversation but it's really sloppy from them.

Anyways, I'm considering now to just open a Nutmeg account and get my ISA moved there instead, and see who gets it first, because I've absolutely no idea who's at fault.  I'm just wondering am I going to get in any legal trouble if I do this (I will notify Vanguard).

Anyone else have this kind of problem?  What did you do?

MX5huggy

Speak to VG on the phone, always found them quick and efficient. Try a different browser.

nutmegs fees are way too high, how much is the transfer and then we can tell you who is cheaper to hold VG funds.

biffer_2

I don't think speaking to VG is going to make any difference.  They are replying to my messages within a day.  They are just not coming back with any satisfactory response, and it's taking too long to progress the transfer.  The ISA is about 6k.

badger09

I suggest a formal complaint to both Coventry & Vanguard.

Aceace

I've found Vanguard CS and ISA transfer process to be one of the worst out of the many I've tried. It took them 6 weeks to do an ISA transfer-out of cash (no sales of funds were necessary as this was done before starting the transfer). They messaged me with stupid questions that were already answered on the transfer form. E.g. they asked "can you confirm that the receiving ISA manager can accept an electronic transfer, and, if so, give us the account details" when that info was already explicitly stated on the transfer form. Their CS often took 3 working days to respond to messages.

I didn't try the phone, but maybe I should have done. Perhaps they put the more competent staff on the phones as they'll need the knowledge to deal with things without any forewarning. 

OldScientist

I had a somewhat different experience, in that Vanguard's in-specie transfer in was very efficient (3 weeks with clear and regular updates) - hopefully won't have to try their transfer out process for a while! So it is possible for them to provide a good service (no idea whether this is common/uncommon).

Stenwold

badger09 said:

I suggest a formal complaint to both Coventry & Vanguard.

Not sure what Coventry can do if they haven't received the request?

flossy_splodge

I'm wondering what on earth is going on with ISA transfers?  The Nationwide offering has fallen far short too.

Is there legislation regarding these transfers?

Ciprico

My Interactive Investor JISA to Vanguard transfer was cancelled by II because Vanguard did not respond to II's emails.  I phoned Vanguard and they promised to sort it out. 

Seems they do have problems...

biffer_2

OK, so I have some more information on this because I contacted Coventry today.  If you are also transferring Coventry -> Vanguard you may have the same issue, so please read.

1) mid Apr 2021: ISA initiated by Vanguard.  Received by Coventry on that date, and it included my Coventry account number, however it could not be associated with my account at that point because it was received by Coventry in encrypted form.  The password usually used to decrypt Vanguard comms was not working for that attachment.  Coventry (according to them) immediately emailed Vanguard to explain this and requested an updated (working) password.

2) Late May: having seen nothing happening I contacted Coventry.  Coventry said they'd received no request on my account, so I wondered if they'd received anything at all from Vanguard. 

3) In June: I requested from Vanguard could I see the communication from Vanguard as proof that they'd sent anything at all.  It took about 2 months for Vanguard to forward me the emails they'd sent to Coventry.  The 'emails' when I finally got them were basically PNG files with screenshots of an email client, subject line 'Transfers Update required'.  Addressed to iout@thecoventry.co.uk (which I'm told by Coventry is the correct address) from Vanguard.  Requests for updates had been sent mid-May, early June and mid-June.  Vanguard never sent me the original transfer request that went to Coventry, because presumably it was encrypted, and they were hardly going to give me the password which was for Coventry eyes only.

What I did get were the three email screenshots.  This was interesting, because I got a tabulation of a bunch of Vanguard -> Coventry account numbers which were presumably all the transfers pending, not just mine.  I know that there was no personally identifiable information (PII) in this email, but I'm not very happy that Vanguard would dish out the account numbers of a dozen or so pending transfers that other people are attempting.  I had no business to know this, but whatever.

I tend to do investments like this in pairs as my wife usually wants me to manage her finances.  So she had a Coventry ISA just like me, and just like me she wanted it transferred to Vanguard, and just like mine it was still pending.  Her Vanguard account number and also her Coventry ISA number appeared in the PNG files, so I suppose that saved me the bother of getting Vanguard to send me an update for her transfer.  If you are also experiencing delays, PM me and I can check if your account is in this list (that I probably am not supposed to have).

4) On 31st Aug, Coventry finally got an updated password which allowed them to associate the request with my account, and it's finally registering as in their systems.  Normally they 'time out' a transfer after about 3 weeks if they hear nothing, but they made an exception and re-instated mine, and now say it's going ahead in a couple of weeks.

I'm now done with my Coventry transfer (I think), and next step is going to be to chase my wife's transfer.  Unfortunately she has also a Nationwide transfer that has been pending for around the same amount of time, so next step is to chase Nationwide and find out if they have the same problem with Vanguard encrypted attachments.

From what I understand at this time, the fault lies entirely with Vanguard.  I will be asking them for an explanation though, only fair that they have a chance to put their side across.

ranciduk

It’s threads like this that deter me from ever transferring my rubbish Halifax isa to somewhere else!

id be a nervous wreck waiting for all to get sorted