NS&I

Peter_Hawkins

Am going through the process of transferring our daughter's OneFamily CTF across to NS&I Junior ISA, better interest rates etc, but getting in touch with NS&I is awful.

Online 'chat' facility is rubbish, you can't email them and the recorded message when you call them states 'waits up to 30 minutes'!!  Regretting moving the funds across now to this particular provider.

Peter

Swipe

Check out their reviews on Trustpilot. Truly shocking!

Peter_Hawkins

Swipe, I wish I had before I had started the transfer across process!

Monies have now been received, and as its a Junior ISA we don't intend to touch it for a few years yet. Surprisingly in this day and age One Family sent the funds across from the CTF to NS&I in cheque form, not bank transfer or electronically! This slowed the process down by 10 days..........bizarre

Albermarle

Peter_Hawkins said:

Swipe, I wish I had before I had started the transfer across process!

Monies have now been received, and as its a Junior ISA we don't intend to touch it for a few years yet. Surprisingly in this day and age One Family sent the funds across from the CTF to NS&I in cheque form, not bank transfer or electronically! This slowed the process down by 10 days..........bizarre

That seems still common for small providers, with old IT. Even some pensions transfers happen by cheque. For some reason they can not just do a normal bank transfer, like you or I.

refluxer

Transferring my son's Junior Cash ISA to NS&I took around 7 weeks a few years ago and transferring it out again a year later took just under a month, so you definitely have to be patient when dealing with them. Both transfers involved posting cheques. It's not too surprising that I needed to contact them to check on progress during the 7-week transfer in and a half-hour wait on the phone sounds about right. 

Speaking of time delays - if you make any payments into the account, just be aware that they normally take a minimum of a (working) day or two to show up in online banking and sometimes longer. I had a standing order set up to pay in on the 1st of every month and I think the record was a week  ! (the payment didn't show up until the 8th which I thought was pretty unacceptable).

Having transferred away, it's galling to me to see that NS&I are now the highest-paying Cash ISA provider with online access (which I prefer for ease of checking the balance as payments are made into this account fairly regularly) and I'm reluctant to transfer back based on my previous experiences, but I've noticed that a local building society is offering a higher rate so I may go with that option instead, so I can at least call in to the branch occasionally to check the balance if needed.

When you were looking into Junior ISA rates, did you check any of the building societies in your local area ? They sometimes offer the highest rates but don't get mentioned on comparison sites due to the accounts not being available to anyone outside of their areas and/or requiring a branch visit to open. The top Junior ISA list on 'This Is Money' seems to include these providers though. Just something to bear in mind if you find you're not happy with NS&I or wish to transfer again in the future.

GrubbyGirl_2

refluxer said:

Having transferred away, it's galling to me to see that NS&I are now the highest-paying Cash ISA provider with online access (which I prefer for ease of checking the balance as payments are made into this account fairly regularly) and I'm reluctant to transfer back based on my previous experiences, but I've noticed that a local building society is offering a higher rate so I may go with that option instead, so I can at least call in to the branch occasionally to check the balance if needed.

They are far from the best rate cash ISA at 2.15%, Paragon is 3.1%

xylophone

They are far from the best rate cash ISA at 2.15%, Paragon is 3.1%OP 's post concerned JISA.

https://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/saving/article-1583863/Best-savings-rates-Junior-Isas-children-s-accounts.html

MikeJXE

My 3 grandkids JISA are on 4% with Coventry Building Society 

incus432

Peter_Hawkins said:

Am going through the process of transferring our daughter's OneFamily CTF across to NS&I Junior ISA, better interest rates etc, but getting in touch with NS&I is awful.

Online 'chat' facility is rubbish, you can't email them and the recorded message when you call them states 'waits up to 30 minutes'!!  Regretting moving the funds across now to this particular provider.

Peter

My sympathies. Son had JISA with NS&I and they were by a country mile (and in a crowded field) the worst, most chaotic and most incompetent financial institution I've ever dealt with. Their systema re stuck in the 1970s. We were unable to access the account for 4 months despite many phone calls and letters..

On their advice son tried to create an online account but this failed because they then told him they couldnt do a credit cheque on someone under 18. They sent paper forms to register by post, sent back with his signature that had to be witnessed by a non family member (!). They then lost this.

They required another online registration process which needed two more proofs of ID posting.

After a formal complaint they paid up £100 compensation.

Never again - this is a failing organisation