Transfer to iWeb - 13 months and complete at last!

Aylesbury_Duck

I instigated a transfer of a S&S ISA from Vanguard to iWeb, way back in January.  Completed the necessary form, sent it back and got acknowledgement of the transfer from iWeb in January.  After several months, I chased iWeb through their chat facility and by phone.  They blamed Vanguard for not sending over the valuation.  Communication from Vanguard was that iWeb hadn't asked for the valuation.  After a few calls to each, things finally seemed to move and in July, my funds disappeared from my Vanguard account.

Six weeks later, and those funds are still not showing in my iWeb account.  I did an in specie transfer, so I haven't lost any time in the market.  Fortunately I have had no need to make any changes to my investment, or to access the funds, because even if I had I wouldn't have been able to since July.  Vanguard have confirmed that they have done everything required of them.  iWeb have given me three different reasons for the delay in the course of two webchats and one phone call.  They've since sent me £275 by way of compensation, along with a letter to say that my complaint is now closed!

I have no desire for more compensation, I just want to know where my funds are.  I get nowhere with iWeb by phone or webchat - they keep saying it's a waiting game because their third-party transfer company (Aegon?) still need to get information from Vanguard, and Vanguard keep confirming they're up to date.

Any ideas, other than the ombudsman?  The sum involved is not trivial - it's over £80k of funds missing for the last six weeks.  I do have a statement from Vanguard confirming the number of units and the date of transfer, so I am slightly reassured that there's an audit trail, but for a transfer to take 8 months so far, and for funds to be unavailable for six weeks so far, is ridiculous.

masonic

Your situation isn't an isolated incident - iWeb seem to be having systemic problems with transfers this year. Other than the Ombudsman, I can't think of anything else you could do that would be productive. Perhaps the FOS can apply some additional pressure on iWeb to chase the various other counterparties, but in specie transfers are a source of incredible frustration when they go wrong. Several posters, including me, have vowed never again having experienced the pain.

soulsaver

IWeb frustratingly must have a managerial style that condones/encourages lying. I had the same, them saying Kent Reliance is the cause. Kent had no record of a request. It was clear to me that the IWeb CS was just BSing me. I cancelled the transfer and went to Interactive's on line request whil I was on 3 rd 40 minute call to IWeb. 10 days later it was in my II ISA ready to trade.

Now I've been waiting months for a transfer out from IWeb, and I have no alternative as they are holding my ISA funds. The ombudsman needs to act - there is something seriously wrong at IWeb. 

Be good if Martin could get some Media focus on this state of affairs, then maybe Halifax may act.

Aylesbury_Duck

Thanks.  At this point, if I could reverse it I would, but I suspect that would just complicate things further.  I'm certain it's iWeb that are at fault because a) there are lots of people having problems with them, and b) their reasons for the delay keep changing, whereas Vanguard have told the same story throughout.

masonic

Aylesbury_Duck said:

Thanks.  At this point, if I could reverse it I would, but I suspect that would just complicate things further.  I'm certain it's iWeb that are at fault because a) there are lots of people having problems with them, and b) their reasons for the delay keep changing, whereas Vanguard have told the same story throughout.

As the receiving ISA manager, iWeb is responsible for driving the process. It sounds as though some paperwork has been misfiled or lost and that has ground the whole process to a halt. This should never be the case. Responsible ISA managers will proactively chase up requests (for example on a weekly basis) until they get a response. I agree with soulsaver that something seems very wrong there, and it is a recent change - I did a couple of transfers to iWeb around the time of the Covid crash and they were handled very efficiently. This all reminds me of the Interactive Investor horror stories from some years ago.

Aylesbury_Duck

Yes, my wife did a similar transfer last year and although it took a few weeks, it all went through correctly.  I've done a cash ISA transfer to iWeb this year, and that went through fine, so it's something about the S&S transfer process that's awry.

I've logged a complaint with the ombudsman.  At this point, I just want to wind back the whole thing.  As soon as it's all sorted, I'm taking all of our funds out of iWeb - they're clearly not an organisation I can trust.  I'm fortunate that I don't need to access the funds, but I don't want to be in a position in future where I need to, and iWeb's processes mean I can't.

masonic

I wouldn't be so quick to make that decision. After receiving this sort of extremely poor service in relation to a transfer, it is understandable your gut reaction would be to sever ties, but the day to day operation of the S&S ISA is not subject to these sort of issues. Transferring away will mean more work for you and potentially higher costs in the future, so it is a decision that should be weighed up carefully with a cool head and a view to achieving the best outcome for you going forward.

Aylesbury_Duck

Wise advice, thank you.

milton1970

Have you tried pinging an email to the complaints team - seemed to get my transfer moving as they called to resolve

Alexland

I'm guessing you no longer fancy doing an annual transfer between Vanguard to iWeb to arbitrage their charging models? I would echo Masonic's comment that once you are with iWeb it's probably worth staying with them if the charges model works well for your valuation and trade pattern. We are happy ongoing customers.

Aylesbury_Duck

Alexland said:

I'm guessing you no longer fancy doing an annual transfer between Vanguard to iWeb to arbitrage their charging models? I would echo Masonic's comment that once you are with iWeb it's probably worth staying with them if the charges model works well for your valuation and trade pattern. We are happy ongoing customers.

Thanks.  I suspect this will be my last transfer to them until/unless they sort out their transfer processes.  I'll build up my annual contributions in Vanguard and assess at year-end.