Virgin Money

libra10

I have been trying to transfer a matured cash ISA from Virgin to a building  society.  Have taken all details to the BS, all filled in correctly and left them to do the transfer.
However, the transfer has been declined by Virgin, according to the building society's letter 'no reason was given by Virgin'.
This has now happened twice and I have phoned Virgin each time for an explanation. They say the BS should use the sort code first 2 numbers in the transfer application, otherwise the transfer fails to reach the correct department.
Has anyone else experienced anything similar?  I feel like I'm just going round in circles trying to sort out the issue.

mebu60

Have you passed on the VM feedback to the BS? 

If the BS isn't willing to contact VM to sort out I'd look for another provider to transfer to. 

masonic

It is a common problem and the result of Virgin Money being a brand name (of Clydesdale Bank) with several underlying parts whose systems don't talk to each other. A forum search would reveal several other threads complaining of this.

qbadger

Please refer to the sort codes below before selecting your existing provider on the Authority Form.

For Sort codes starting with 05 please choose Yorkshire Bank.

For Sort codes starting with 82 please choose Clydesdale Bank.

https://uk.virginmoney.com/savings/learn/isas/transfer-your-isa/flexi-cash-isa/#how-can-i-transfer-my-flexi-cash-isa-to-another-provider

libra10

Thanks for the input.

I chose the building society I wished to transfer the ISA to as I already had an ISA with them, and wanted to amalgamate the two accounts.

On our second visit to the BS, we did stress that the correct sort code was used in the transfer application, unfortunately this also resulted in another failure.

We are going to have to go in again and try to resolve the issue, failing that I will have to decide what else to do with the matured account.

Thanks for the information.

boingy

The point @qbadger is making is that in banking terms you are not transferring from Virgin. You are transferring from either Yorkshire or Clydesdale depending upon the sort code. It's a right old mess at the Virgin end because they have never merged the different banking systems within the group, and they make things worse by continuing to offer accounts from both systems.

On here we've seen a number of transfers go wrong because the transfer request has gone to the "wrong half" of the Virgin business and they seem to be incapable of redirecting the request.

libra10

It seems to be made worse as the letters from the BS state that the transfer request has failed, and Virgin have declined to give a reason for this.  You would expect some sort of reason for the failure would be given to the BS, as we don't seem to be getting anywhere further with this. 

The literature from Virgin just states Virgin Money, no other details.

We possibly wouldn't have decided to transfer the ISA if they hadn't been offering a measly rate of 1.75% to renew.  It seems investors with Virgin current accounts are offered higher rates.

We will go into the branch tomorrow and see whether this can be resolved.

Thanks for the input.

masonic

When other banks have reported failures, the reason given was that Clydesdale Bank reported that the ISA to be transferred could not be found. That wasn't particularly helpful either.

This mess is why I give Virgin Money a wide berth.

boingy

libra10 said:

The literature from Virgin just states Virgin Money, no other details. 

Start another transfer at your new BS. If your Virgin sort code starts with 05 then put "Yorkshire Bank" for the provider, and if it is 82 put "Clydesdale Bank". That will get your request to the correct office. I can't promise it will work but it will ensure that the transfer request is at the right place.

libra10

Thanks @boingy On our last visit I did tell the BS the code O5 Yorkshire Bank, but it still resulted in a failure.  I will see what they say when we go in.
Thank you

boingy

The pragmatic solution might be to transfer to a different provider and then either stay there or then do another transfer to the BS you really want. It's ridiculous that you might have to consider doing that but it might be a way to end up with what you want.

FWIW between my wife and I we've transferred three Virgin ISAs out in the last couple of years and they all went smoothly. Two were "82" accounts and the other was an "05". One was me transferring a cash ISA to an S&S ISA at iWeb and iWeb told me they are well accustomed to the challenges of transferring from Virgin, which amused me!