Vanguard ISA transfer in times

spenderdave

I am transferring my HSBC Loyalty ISA into my Vanguard ISA account. I applied at the beginning of December, there was an initial delay as they claimed they had not received the signed transfer form which I had posted immediately so they didn't actually send it off to HSBC until December 15th. Nothing has happened, it is sat saying 'pending' in my Vanguard account, though Vanguard confirm it has been sent to HSBC. Long chat with HSBC at the branch today, they can seen nothing in my account indicating a transfer is under way, no notes or anything and could only suggest I send a query via my online banking.

Is this fairly normal? Even allowing for Christmas the 30 days estimated is up and I would have thought HSBC would have some record of it happening. Or is it still sat in an intray at Vanguard despite what they are saying?

dunstonh

Cash ISA to S&S ISA transfers are not easily joined up in the same way cash to cash or S&S ISA to S&S ISA is.    The receiving scheme usually doesn't know a thing until they either chase it up and are told or it turns up.

Is this fairly normal? Even allowing for Christmas the 30 days estimated is up and I would have thought HSBC would have some record of it happening. 

It should be transferred by now.

Or is it still sat in an intray at Vanguard despite what they are saying?

If their software is showing that it has been submitted then it has been submitted.  That doesn't mean it has got to the right unit of the bank. e.g. branch address or head office address used instead of the cash ISA team.  Or sometimes sent to the S&S ISA team and not the Cash ISA team.

It may be worth a message to Vanguard telling them HSBC are saying they haven't got it yet.

Thrugelmir

spenderdave said:

Is this fairly normal? Even allowing for Christmas the 30 days estimated is up and I would have thought HSBC would have some record of it happening. Or is it still sat in an intray at Vanguard despite what they are saying?

Depends on the back log sitting in the respective systems. Mail is most likely scanned and then assigned to work groups. Oldest will be dealt with first. If there's been a high level of staff absence due to holidays or Covid then back logs can take weeks to clear. 

Missy79

I transferred an old Virgin Money cash ISA to a S&S Vanguard ISA in November last year, took less than a month even with the need for a posted hard copy and I needed to update my address with Virgin money so it might be worth chasing.

spenderdave

I contacted HSBC through secure messaging and they say they have not received any instructions from Vanguard. Vanguard insist they sent the forms to them in December and are now asking me if I have any alternate contact details for HSBC! Surely they should know where to send the stuff to. So we seem to be in an impasse. Any suggestions on what I can do next?

GeoffTF

Get HSBC to confirm the contact details. Get Vanguard to send the instructions again, and confirm that they have done so. Then contact HSBC to get a confirmation that the instructions have arrived. Send a copy of the confirmation to Vanguard.

dunstonh

spenderdave said:

I contacted HSBC through secure messaging and they say they have not received any instructions from Vanguard. Vanguard insist they sent the forms to them in December and are now asking me if I have any alternate contact details for HSBC! Surely they should know where to send the stuff to. So we seem to be in an impasse. Any suggestions on what I can do next?

Why should Vanguard know the address of HSBC?  A lot of providers operate out of multiple addresses.  HSBC included.

Best thing to do is give Vanguard the address, as they have asked.

Thumbs_Up

I was thinking of transferring a 20k cash ISA to a Vanguard S&S ISA. Reading above don’t think I bother. Can’t be arsed with the potential aggro. Yep, I know my loss. A Thumbs_Down for me.

GeoffTF

Thumbs_Up said:

I was thinking of transferring a 20k cash ISA to a Vanguard S&S ISA. Reading above don’t think I bother. Can’t be arsed with the potential aggro. Yep, I know my loss. A Thumbs_Down for me.

Not everyone has these problems, and it is not just Vanguard. The whole transfer system is a mess. You should not have to chase, but it is wise to do so.

Albermarle

Thumbs_Up said:

I was thinking of transferring a 20k cash ISA to a Vanguard S&S ISA. Reading above don’t think I bother. Can’t be arsed with the potential aggro. Yep, I know my loss. A Thumbs_Down for me.

Moving £20K from cash to invest in Stocks and shares , is a much more important decision than which S&S ISA to transfer to.
There are many S&S ISA providers other than Vanguard.

spenderdave

For information my transfer HSBC to Vanguard finally completed yesterday after nearly three months. Maybe helped when I suggested they send the forms to my local HSBC branch. But now what to do with it with the market likely to nosedive after today's Ukraine developments, or should I just leave the (significant) amount in Vanguard's cash pot?