Anyone transferred a cash isa to Zopa?

slinger2

Got to say I've given up transfers to Zopa for now. Managed a partial transfer but a full transfer failed. Also put off by their very restrictive transfer-out rule. I've an Access ISA and a 1-year fix which expires about the same time as the bonus on the Access ISA expires, but with that rule I'm reluctant to open anything else.

May use the Access ISA to park some of this year's allowance. Its flexi I believe.

charlie12525

1spiral said:

charlie12525 said:

Unfortunately Zopa screwed up my ISA transfer. They requested a partial transfer from YBS when I asked for a full transfer. So YBS sent them the full balance leaving 0 in my YBS ISA but with a few pounds in interest due to be paid next year. I will have to manually close it.

That's interesting. My transfer was also from YBS. When I received my first letter from them confirming my request to transfer it also said "part transfer" despite requesting a full transfer.

When I received my second letter stating that the transfer was complete, the amount transferred included accrued interest (presumably correct) but stated they'd left the isa open with a balance of 0. I assumed this was how YBS processed the transfer rather than how Zopa requested it. You've now got me wondering whether there is any residual interest in my account although the figure I received was in the correct ballpark. Are you saying that no accrued interest was sent?

YBS sent accrued interest as part of the ISA transfer which I thought was strange. I did ask them about this when I messaged them about the partial transfer error but their reply ignored my question about this. My YBS ISA balance shows 0 but there is £2.70, or something like that, interest to be applied later, according to their message. I suspect that it is a similar situation for you.

BreakingGlass

BreakingGlass said:

BreakingGlass said:

My ISA transfer from YBS to Zopa seems to have failed.

I opened a Zopa ISA on 15 March - I already had their Savings account with just £1 in it.  I applied for transfer from YBS that same day, the YBS ISA closed on 22 Mar (online and confirmatory letter from YBS).  On checking with Zopa it still states online that 'We're processing your ISA transfer .... It should be complete by 9 April'.  However, the ISA account has re-appeared on YBS with the amount re-credited and 'Cancelled Transfer' against the credit.  The ISA held about £25k and the interest added to the transfer amount (now removed) was only about £20, so well within the 10% limit mentioned above.

I have just messaged YBS to ask what the problem is and I will report back here.  Given some of the experiences mentioned here and elsewhere, I suspect a problem with Zopa transfers in.

My transfer still hasn't happened!  YBS say that they tried an electronic transfer to Zopa on 22 March and it failed, whereupon they issued a cheque, which was returned because 'Zopa don't accept cheques'.  YBS then sent an electronic transfer (Faster Payment) to Zopa on 5 April, but Zopa say that they haven't received it.  I have just come off the phone to Zopa and they will investigate further and get back to me.

Zopa's Customer Services representative made the mistake of using the classic phrase 'no worries' at the end of our conversation - I couldn't help myself in explaining why for me it was actually a very big worry indeed!

So after requesting my transfer on 15 Mar, it finally took place on 27 April!  I chased this numerous times with both YBS and Zopa as follows:

YBS:  I communicated using their messaging service and each reply took 2-3 days.  Bottom line is that although they made an initial transfer error, they have satisfied me that they actually transferred the money to Zopa on 5 April along with the 'info pack' that should have allowed Zopa to set up my new ISA.  

Zopa:  I communicated mainly using their online chat service - each chat took just over three hours and I was transferred between agents mid-chat for no apparent reason.  Zopa's answers have been frustrating, inconsistent, incorrect and they appeared to use stalling techniques, or just couldn't be bothered to look into the problem thoroughly.  Up until 23 April they denied having received any money, even though I gave them the transfer details and references from YBS.  Then suddenly they said that the money had arrived on 16 April (not 5th), but that they were waiting for the ISA 'info pack' before they could complete my transfer.  They had not tried to chase this info more than once, or spoken direct  to YBS as I requested several times.  Furthermore, they stated that I would not receive any interest on the ISA until the transfer was complete - by which I assume that they now mean 27 April, 22 days after receiving my money from YBS.  I therefore raised a formal complaint about all aspects of the transfer on 23 Apr and they acknowledged this by email today. 

(Quick aside, my wife has attempted exactly the same transfer over the exact same timeframe with exactly the same outcome - another formal complaint has been raised!)

Bottom Line:  Based upon my personal experience above, I cannot recommend transferring Cash ISAs to Zopa, irrespective of their market leading rate.

wiseonesomeofthetime

My YBS to Zopa proceeded smoothly and within timescales stated, i.e. 15 working days

GMeeg

I cancelled the transfer of a fixed ISA to Zopa because yhey refused to start the process until the maturity date. I've gone elsewhere and they started the process immediately so that the funds can be transferred on the maturity date. Zopa didn't seem to appreciate why it was a problem.  I had chosen them for a 30 day transfer window, added this year's allowance and wanted to transfer in during the window.  This should have been possible with sufficient notice. 

RG2015

I transferred an ISA from Virgin Money into the Zopa flexible ISA last year.

Today I withdrew £1,000 and the app displayed a message saying I had £21,000 left of this year's ISA allowance with Zopa.

It is an interesting way of putting it but makes eminent sense to me.

nedwilsher

I requested a complete transfer to Zopa from Skipton and it was all done and dusted within a week. No problem. Excellent service.

An ISA transfer should go like clockwork and if it does not and it is not your fault (e.g. gave incorrect account details) then I would certainly raise a complaint especially if it means losing interest meanwhile. I'd accept compensation equivalent to the loss of interest plus an amount for time, grief and angst. And if they don't offer nearly enough I'd consider saying no thank you and go to the ombudsman.

nedwilsher

RG2015 said:

I transferred an ISA from Virgin Money into the Zopa flexible ISA last year.

Today I withdrew £1,000 and the app displayed a message saying I had £21,000 left of this year's ISA allowance with Zopa.

It is an interesting way of putting it but makes eminent sense to me.

It may make eminent sense - but the statement is wrong. True you can replace the £1k from previous tax year's savings and then another £20k for this year. But it could confuse some people who might think they are allowed to open another non-Zopa ISA with £21k!

RG2015

nedwilsher said:

RG2015 said:

I transferred an ISA from Virgin Money into the Zopa flexible ISA last year.

Today I withdrew £1,000 and the app displayed a message saying I had £21,000 left of this year's ISA allowance with Zopa.

It is an interesting way of putting it but makes eminent sense to me.

It may make eminent sense - but the statement is wrong. True you can replace the £1k from previous tax year's savings and then another £20k for this year. But it could confuse some people who might think they are allowed to open another non-Zopa ISA with £21k!

It says £21,000 left of this years's ISA allowance with Zopa.

The statement is not wrong, and I don't see how an allowance with Zopa could be confused with an allowance for a non-Zopa ISA.