ISA transfer from Virgin Money to Barclays declined (cannot locate account) - how to proceed?

[Deleted User]

masonic said:

Deleted_User said:

As far as I remember, in the transfer request form I selected "Virgin Money" and entered the sort code that starts with 82.
In the letter from Barclays regarding my request they referred to information from Clydesdale bank.

So do all banks use the same system or each one is responsible for maintaining and updating their own ones (can't believe in it tbh)? Who is at fault here?
Generally, it's still a very stupid situation as each party says "THEY did something wrong" so how can a customer make them responsible for the loss of time and money?

All banks use the same list of authorised ISA managers, either direct from HMRC or via the electronic transfer system maintained by TISA. You can check the HMRC list of authorised ISA managers at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/list-of-individual-savings-account-isa-managers-approved-by-hmrc/registered-individual-savings-account-isa-managers#registered-names-v

This will allow you to verify that Virgin Money is not authorised by HMRC to provide cash ISAs, whereas Clydesdale Bank plc is.

Furthermore, Virgin Money plc is no longer FCA authorised as it no longer operates the Virgin Money brand. Clydesdale Bank plc now owns and uses "Virgin Money" as a brand name, so the correct company to reference is, as Barclays stated, Clydesdale Bank plc. This is what should be entered on the transfer form, as the Virgin Money brand website states in its FAQ pages.

Thanks for your reply but I'm still confused .
As a customer I don't have to verify who's authorised and who's not, have I?
If Barclays sent their request using Clydesdale Bank as a ISA manager, why VM say they didn't receive any requests?
And to be honest, when I contacted VM CS, they said no word about Clydesdale Bank as part of the data I need to provide to Barclays. And I found out about that FAQ pages from this forum only.
So it's all very controversial.

My question stands: who is at fault and how to make them get things right?
Looks like FO is the only route

masonic

[Deleted User] said:

masonic said:

Deleted_User said:

As far as I remember, in the transfer request form I selected "Virgin Money" and entered the sort code that starts with 82.
In the letter from Barclays regarding my request they referred to information from Clydesdale bank.

So do all banks use the same system or each one is responsible for maintaining and updating their own ones (can't believe in it tbh)? Who is at fault here?
Generally, it's still a very stupid situation as each party says "THEY did something wrong" so how can a customer make them responsible for the loss of time and money?

All banks use the same list of authorised ISA managers, either direct from HMRC or via the electronic transfer system maintained by TISA. You can check the HMRC list of authorised ISA managers at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/list-of-individual-savings-account-isa-managers-approved-by-hmrc/registered-individual-savings-account-isa-managers#registered-names-v

This will allow you to verify that Virgin Money is not authorised by HMRC to provide cash ISAs, whereas Clydesdale Bank plc is.

Furthermore, Virgin Money plc is no longer FCA authorised as it no longer operates the Virgin Money brand. Clydesdale Bank plc now owns and uses "Virgin Money" as a brand name, so the correct company to reference is, as Barclays stated, Clydesdale Bank plc. This is what should be entered on the transfer form, as the Virgin Money brand website states in its FAQ pages.

Thanks for your reply but I'm still confused .
As a customer I don't have to verify who's authorised and who's not, have I?
If Barclays sent their request using Clydesdale Bank as a ISA manager, why VM say they didn't receive any requests?
And to be honest, when I contacted VM CS, they said no word about Clydesdale Bank as part of the data I need to provide to Barclays. And I found out about that FAQ pages from this forum only.
So it's all very controversial.

My question stands: who is at fault and how to make them get things right?
Looks like FO is the only route

It's clearly Virgin's fault for having such a confusing system in the first place, and not having the internal systems to route information to the correct part of their business.

As a customer, you should always know which financial institution you are entrusting your money to, that it is authorised, and you are visiting the registered website or phoning the registered number held on the FCA register, but that's mainly to guard against falling victim to fraud.

boingy

Putting on my pragmatic hat, you can't affect the Virgin end of things but you can choose a different bank to transfer the ISA to. So maybe try a different receiving bank, either to stick with or as an intermediate account en-route to Barclays. Although Barclays have been so crap I would probably opt to use someone else.

xylophone

So maybe try a different receiving bank,

How about trying Yorkshire Building Society?

You will find that when you complete their transfer in form, their drop down menu of former providers contains an entry for

Virgin Money sort codes beginning 82

Virgin Money Sort codes beginning 05

https://www.ybs.co.uk/savings/isas?cmpid=ppc-GOOGLE-S_Branded+Product_ISA_Pure+&+Wide_Exact+&+Broad_Tier+1-yorkshire+building+society+isas&gad=1&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI6OPM8Lev_wIVAevtCh31rAPgEAAYASABEgKInvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

35har1old

[Deleted User] said:

Recently I complained to both Barclays and VM regarding the situation.

VM replied with a piece of information I don't quite understand and would appreciate if anybody could comment if it makes sense.

"Any issue you had faced with regards to the request was due to the fact that Barclays has not updated their own systems to reflect Clydesdale bank is now Virgin Money with sort code starting 82".

As far as I remember, in the transfer request form I selected "Virgin Money" and entered the sort code that starts with 82.
In the letter from Barclays regarding my request they referred to information from Clydesdale bank.

So do all banks use the same system or each one is responsible for maintaining and updating their own ones (can't believe in it tbh)? Who is at fault here?
Generally, it's still a very stupid situation as each party says "THEY did something wrong" so how can a customer make them responsible for the loss of time and money?

And Barclays is a mess, they are absolutely useless as they haven't sent me the final response to my complaint from Feb 2023 yet despite me contacting their CEO.
They even keep on sending transfer requests to VM regarding the account that was already transferred out months ago, just received another letter from them.

I asked Barclays the same question who was at fault never got a answer 
as they finally managed to complete the transfer just  received a letter with no reference to the complaint.So never received a final response letter and no leaflet on how to  process complaint to ombudsman 

35har1old

Ulrich said:

Hi All,

I'm a bit stuck and need some help on how to deal with my catch 22 problem.

20 Jan I opened a cash ISA account with Barclays (online) and filled in a transfer form of my cash ISA with Virgin Money (took sort code and account number from my VM app).
On 11 Feb Barclays sent me a letter saying than Clydesdale bank (!) was unable to locate the account I asked to transfer to Barclays.

Phoned VM - they said they confirmed they can see my cash ISA but said they had not received any transfer requests and advised to contact Barclays.
Barclays said the request was declined on 23 Jan (!!) and said check with VM if there is anything else I need to give to Barclays to make the transfer.
Phoned VM and in parallel asked in chat - they said the only data I need to provide to a new bank is my full name, sort code, account number and amount, exactly what I initially did.
Phoned Barclays - they tried to convince me that there must be something like roll number as their initial request was declined. I explained that VM did not give me any extra information and asked Barclays to make another transfer request on 17 Feb.

As of today (23 Feb) I can see money in my cash ISA with VM so I assume the second request was declined, too (will phone Barclays later to check transfer status).
Honestly, I'm a bit fed up with this as a) it takes a lot of time, b) I am losing money as Barclays pay 4% instead of 3% VM and c) I have no idea how to make that transfer happen because in theory I have provided the right data to Barclays but they cannot complete the transfer and send me to VM, who send me back to Barclays, catch 22.

So how should I deal with this problem?

Virgin will have responded to Barclays saying account not found due to Barclays submitting request to the wrong department. 
Even when submitting a transfer to switch between Virgin accounts they can be on separate online platforms
Yorkshire Bank
Clydesdale Blank
Virgin Money
If you go to a bank sort code site it will give you details on which bank it refers to. Two of them have a Glasgow address and the Virgin has a Newcastle address

[Deleted User]

boingy said:

Putting on my pragmatic hat, you can't affect the Virgin end of things but you can choose a different bank to transfer the ISA to. So maybe try a different receiving bank, either to stick with or as an intermediate account en-route to Barclays. Although Barclays have been so crap I would probably opt to use someone else.

Maybe I wasn't clear enough.
My main question was related to complaints and how to make VM and/or Barclays responsible for the mess because currently they both saying it's not their fault pointing to the other party, pretty stupid situation.
I've already transferred my money to another ISA with VM just to avoid further fruitless waiting. Will definitely leave VM when it matures next year.

[Deleted User]

35har1old said:

Virgin will have responded to Barclays saying account not found due to Barclays submitting request to the wrong department. 

Well, I don't know what VM responded to Barclays, I only have 2 contradicting statements:
1. A letter from Barclays sayin "Clydesdale bank was unable to locate the account"
2. A final response to my complaint to VM saying "EW have no record of the receipt of any transfer request from Barclays on your behalf".

And it's despite 2 attempts Barclays made. I think that's crazy and should not be like that.
At least one party dropped the ball here and the question is how to make them accountable for that.

[Deleted User]

masonic said:

Thanks for your reply but I'm still confused .
As a customer I don't have to verify who's authorised and who's not, have I?
If Barclays sent their request using Clydesdale Bank as a ISA manager, why VM say they didn't receive any requests?
And to be honest, when I contacted VM CS, they said no word about Clydesdale Bank as part of the data I need to provide to Barclays. And I found out about that FAQ pages from this forum only.
So it's all very controversial.

My question stands: who is at fault and how to make them get things right?
Looks like FO is the only route

It's clearly Virgin's fault for having such a confusing system in the first place, and not having the internal systems to route information to the correct part of their business.

As a customer, you should always know which financial institution you are entrusting your money to, that it is authorised, and you are visiting the registered website or phoning the registered number held on the FCA register, but that's mainly to guard against falling victim to fraud.

But they deny everything in their final response - "no transfer requests received, correct info given over the phone" etc.
FO route?

eskbanker

FOS can't and won't arbitrate in the event of conflicting information being provided by two institutions - their remit is to review escalated complaints made to individual institutions and to ascertain if you've been treated fairly by each one, rather than linking them together and attributing blame.