I made a mistake with ISA, given the wrong advice to correct it. update 2: complaint upheld

masonic

silvercar said:

dunstonh said:

Does anyone know if the financial equivalent of DSR apply to savings products opened online?

Financial products are exempt as they have their own equivalent in many areas apart from those where it is not feasible.  

So the equivalent seems to be the "distance marketing of financial services". This has a 14 day cooling off period. Is there any reason why this wouldn't apply to savings bonds?

Yes, there is an exemption that applies to fixed term savings, because they require that the money is locked away for a fixed period. The institution receiving this money lends it in a more illiquid fashion in order to maximise the return.

The terms and conditions of the product you opened should have made it clear whether or not you could cancel. That's why it is so important to read them.

The lack of cooling off period for most fixed term savings accounts was highlighted in a ThisIsMoney article some 6 years ago: https://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/saving/article-4271248/Does-fixed-rate-savings-deal-cooling-period.html

ForumUser7

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/80028709#Comment_80028709

You could, but in this respect I'm minded to think the FI hasn't done anything wrong by not responding so far - the financial institution has up to 8 weeks to fully respond, or 35(?) days if it is payment services related. If they breach the 8 weeks, you can refer to FOS as they should issue a final response requesting more time if they are going to run over. Most FIs attempt to resolve within 3.W.D with something called a summary resolution communication, so that is just non-specific to your complaint boiler plate wording. So you could raise a 2nd complaint, but I don't think it would be upheld, as they've adhered to their regulatory requirements in the complaints process so far. Sorry!

silvercar

A result!

FI eventually dealt with the complaint and have upheld it. They will transfer the funds out of the fixed rate bond and into the fixed rate ISA. They will also pay me £100. They accept that their CA wrongly told me that I had a 14 day cooling off period and so they will honour it.