Missed out on Help to Buy bonus due to wrong procedure

sheramber

It does say

"Any funds withdrawn or transferred from your account will no longer count towards the Government Bonus. . 

kraven_t_punter

It also states: "If you withdraw or transfer all your funds, you must close your account to be eligible to apply for the Government Bonus."

I've since learned this is the WRONG procedure as the implication is that you can withdraw all your funds then close your account afterwards - which is what I wanted to do. It was the bit about the £1,600 which threw me.

saajan_12

kraven_t_punter said:

It also states: "If you withdraw or transfer all your funds, you must close your account to be eligible to apply for the Government Bonus."

I've since learned this is the WRONG procedure as the implication is that you can withdraw all your funds then close your account afterwards - which is what I wanted to do. It was the bit about the £1,600 which threw me.

Nowhere does it say 'afterwards'. I would say the implication is you don't just withdraw via bank transfer, you close the account. My interpretation is reinforced by the first sentence, whereas your interpretation contradicts it. 

kimwp

I do think that middle sentence is a bit unclear, but the other sentences are very clear- any money that is removed from the account is not eligible for the bonus and you must have a minimum of £1,600 to get any bonus.

It's not reasonable to see a very clear statement, but think a different, unclear statement that could be interpreted in a number of ways would negate the clear statements.

But the second statement is irrelevant to what you did anyway. It says if you withdraw all your funds- and you didn't. If anything, it should have been a clue that all the funds need to be kept together to be eligible for the bonus.

kraven_t_punter

OK so the general concensus here is that I don't have any case. Got to be honest, I was prepared to drop it and cut my losses, but after a few months stewing on it, I thought it might be worth persueing.

I would argue:
- It is an easy mistake to make
- The wording of the warning is not clear
- Once the wrong procedure has been followed it is irreversible
- I did use the money in the account for the intended purpose, regardless of the procedure
- I accept that I am at fault for not following the correct procedure, but I was under pressure to pay the deposit as quickly as possibly
- This is the only time in their life that anyone needs to follow this process, so if they get it wrong it is a very costly mistake. I feel the bank could have done more to prevent people making this mistake.
- Also, got to be honest, I don't really understand why the bonus is only paid on the balance of the closing statement as long as you can prove that that is where the money went