Cash ISA transfer, Virgin to Skipton - a quandary

Yellowman

I am in the process of transferring an easy access cash ISA from Virgin to Skipton BS.

My completed transfer form was sent to Skipton and then forwarded to the correct address at Virgin (Clydebank, Glasgow).

After two weeks, the transfer has not gone through - 

Skipton state that the request was rejected by Virgin.

Virgin state that a request has not been received.

I am repeatedly telephoning both organisations to confirm that all my details are correct, but both recommend I speak to the other.

Can I now insist they deal with this between themselves?

eskbanker

Unless this is simply a matter of post not having arrived yet, I wonder if this issue may be related to the fact that 'under the bonnet', Virgin is still a mishmash of different and apparently unrelated systems, so a successful ISA transfer will depend on the request reaching the right Virgin 'subsidiary'.

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6413395/issue-transfering-isa-from-virgin-money-to-barclays/p1

Having said that, the prescribed timescale for a cash ISA transfer to complete is three weeks....

masonic

Skipton is responsible for handling the transfer. You shouldn't need to deal with Virgin at all. The easiest solution may be to ask Skipton to resend the transfer form. If you reach 15 working days and the transfer is not complete, submit a formal complaint to Skipton, as that is the maximum timescale a cash ISA should take to be transferred.

You can also check the address used against the official list of ISA managers here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/list-of-approved-individual-savings-account-isa-managers

(there are no ISA managers with a registered address in Clydebank)

MDMD

What was the exact name of the Virgin account type? I transferred my Virgin Cash ISA Exclusive to Skipton and it took two days.  On the form I put it down as a Yorkshire Bank account to avoid the issue you have had.

Yellowman

The Virgin ISA is the easy access Cash ISA exclusive issue 2.

The Skipton ISA is the Cash ISA tracker issue 3 (no longer available, but available to me as I applied before the cut-off).

Skipton sent my ISA transfer form to -

Virgin Cash ISA Team, Bering House, Mariner Court, Clydebank Business Park, Clydebank, Glasgow, G81 2NR

and also to another address in Newcastle (?).

How does using a Yorkshire Bank address work?

fabsaver

The Clydebank address is the correct one for the team that deals with the Easy Access / Exclusive Cash ISAs.

This page is about transfers in but is helpful to check which address applies to which account https://uk.virginmoney.com/savings/learn/isas/transfer-your-isa/

You state that the form was also sent to the Gosforth (Newcastle) address? I wonder if it is they who have replied to Skipton rejecting the transfer, as they do not deal with the Exclusive ISAs. The form sent to Clydebank might have gone astray or just not arrived yet.

The Virgin Money systems really are a mess. However I suspect if they ever try to amalgamate them it would result in a massive IT meltdown.

Yellowman

Thanks for all your inputs. I have transferred many ISAs in the past and they usually get sorted within a week.

I shall have to insist that Virgin explain what is causing the problem, as my money will be going nowhere otherwise.

35har1old

Yellowman said:

I am in the process of transferring an easy access cash ISA from Virgin to Skipton BS.

My completed transfer form was sent to Skipton and then forwarded to the correct address at Virgin (Clydebank, Glasgow).

After two weeks, the transfer has not gone through - 

Skipton state that the request was rejected by Virgin.

Virgin state that a request has not been received.

I am repeatedly telephoning both organisations to confirm that all my details are correct, but both recommend I speak to the other.

Can I now insist they deal with this between themselves?

That happened to me.
Phoned both providers was told by the receiving building society account not found.
Phoned Virgin they told me that if another provider does not submit the transfer request with the correct code it would show as account not found. They also stated that the request would not be recorded.
At the time of phoning i was given the correct code which i passed to the new provider.
Virgin also said every provider has a list of these codes but Virgin may have a number of these codes against there name.
i don't think it will be possible for you to ask them to deal with this themselves.
I think i only got this information after lodging a complaint with Virgin.
Transfer request took from 17-11-22 to 13-01-23 but some of the time was down to postal strikes delaying letters.

35har1old

fabsaver said:

The Clydebank address is the correct one for the team that deals with the Easy Access / Exclusive Cash ISAs.

This page is about transfers in but is helpful to check which address applies to which account https://uk.virginmoney.com/savings/learn/isas/transfer-your-isa/

You state that the form was also sent to the Gosforth (Newcastle) address? I wonder if it is they who have replied to Skipton rejecting the transfer, as they do not deal with the Exclusive ISAs. The form sent to Clydebank might have gone astray or just not arrived yet.

The Virgin Money systems really are a mess. However I suspect if they ever try to amalgamate them it would result in a massive IT meltdown.

I was told that they are not allowed to merge the two systems

Yellowman

After further telephone conversations, Skipton have discovered that the problem is likely due to the sort code, as aforementioned by 35har1old. 

The sort code I clearly use for my Virgin ISA is apparently one attached to Clydesdale Bank.

Virgin and Skipton should have worked this out for me, rather than just abandoning my application and waiting for me to query!

35har1old

Yellowman said:

After further telephone conversations, Skipton have discovered that the problem is likely due to the sort code, as aforementioned by 35har1old. 

The sort code I clearly use for my Virgin ISA is apparently one attached to Clydesdale Bank.

Virgin and Skipton should have worked this out for me, rather than just abandoning my application and waiting for me to query!

It's not the sort code that is on your account
All providers are issued with a list of codes that are to be submitted at time of Transfer Request it is up to the new provider to submit the correct code our the process fails