More problems with Raisin UK & limits of the Financial Ombudsman Service.

Milkbutnosugar

The Financial Ombudsman Service covers banks, building societies and payment services but NOT deposit aggregators such as Raisin UK and others.  I know this after complaining to the FOS about Raisin UK, waiting for 2 months and then getting the investigator's reply: we have no powers over a deposit aggregator.  I emailed MSE about this but there was no reply - surely savers need a warning about the lack of protection?  The Financial Services Compensation Scheme covers up to £85,000 but that applies to a firm going bust.  Until that happens you are on your own.  I'll invest directly with a bank or building society in future because they are likely to have better customer care and more expertise than a middleman, which is what a savings marketplace/savings platform/deposit aggregator amounts to.  

eskbanker

FOS can only deal with complaints about regulated activities rather than everything a regulated company does, hence the FCA's Raisin entry using the normal wording:

The Financial Ombudsman Service may be able to consider a complaint about this firm

If this firm fails to deal with your complaint properly, you can ask the Financial Ombudsman Service to help. But it may not be able to consider complaints about all the firm’s activities. The Financial Ombudsman Service has the final decision as to whether or not it will consider a specific complaint.

You can complain to the Financial Ombudsman Service about most regulated activities and some unregulated activities. The Financial Ombudsman Service’s website has information about the type of activities you can complain about.

https://register.fca.org.uk/s/firm?id=0014G00002wQdaHQAS

The FCA definition of which activities are regulated is set out at https://www.handbook.fca.org.uk/handbook/glossary/G974.html - is the specific activity about which you were complaining listed there?  Are you able to share the exact wording used by FOS when refusing your complaint?

TheBanker

Milkbutnosugar said:

The Financial Ombudsman Service covers banks, building societies and payment services but NOT deposit aggregators such as Raisin UK and others.  I know this after complaining to the FOS about Raisin UK, waiting for 2 months and then getting the investigator's reply: we have no powers over a deposit aggregator.  I emailed MSE about this but there was no reply - surely savers need a warning about the lack of protection?  The Financial Services Compensation Scheme covers up to £85,000 but that applies to a firm going bust.  Until that happens you are on your own.  I'll invest directly with a bank or building society in future because they are likely to have better customer care and more expertise than a middleman, which is what a savings marketplace/savings platform/deposit aggregator amounts to.  

Perhaps post a bit more information about what you want to complain about?

From your previous post, it looks like you are unhappy about being asked to supply ID/KYC documents when you wanted to withdraw funds. It's unlikely FOS would uphold such a complaint, because Raisin are doing so to meet legal and regulatory obligations (and/or contractual obligations to the bank providing the deposit account and/or their payment processor), and to prevent fraud and financial crime.

The only circumstances FOS are likely to uphold a complaint is if there was an unreasonable delay in actioning the documents, or if there were repeat requests for documents that had already been supplied. They are not likely to find that a request for documents is, of its self, unreasonable even if the customer believes the request is unnecessary, excessive or intrusive.

Eyeful

1. The FSCS Savings Protection up to £85k only applies to Banks, Building Societies & Credit Unions on their list.
2. The FSCS Investment Protection varies, depending on the type of product, and some investment products aren't protected at all.
3. FSCS Protection Checker:  https://www.fscs.org.uk/check/

4. FSCS Investor Protection Articles:
https://monevator.com/investor-compensation-scheme/
https://monevator.com/maximising-fscs-protection-for-your-investment-portfolio/

eskbanker

Eyeful said:

1. The FSCS Savings Protection up to £85k only applies to Banks, Building Societies & Credit Unions on their list.
2. The FSCS Investment Protection varies, depending on the type of product, and some investment products aren't protected at all.
3. FSCS Protection Checker:  https://www.fscs.org.uk/check/

4. FSCS Investor Protection Articles:
https://monevator.com/investor-compensation-scheme/
https://monevator.com/maximising-fscs-protection-for-your-investment-portfolio/

I don't believe that OP is looking for guidance about FSCS but just mentioned it in passing as not applying to the scenarios they're thinking of ("[it] applies to a firm going bust.  Until that happens you are on your own"), and seems to be referring to 'protection' in the context of ability to use FOS services.

Eyeful

eskbanker said:

Eyeful said:

1. The FSCS Savings Protection up to £85k only applies to Banks, Building Societies & Credit Unions on their list.
2. The FSCS Investment Protection varies, depending on the type of product, and some investment products aren't protected at all.
3. FSCS Protection Checker:  https://www.fscs.org.uk/check/

4. FSCS Investor Protection Articles:
https://monevator.com/investor-compensation-scheme/
https://monevator.com/maximising-fscs-protection-for-your-investment-portfolio/

I don't believe that OP is looking for guidance about FSCS but just mentioned it in passing as not applying to the scenarios they're thinking of ("[it] applies to a firm going bust.  Until that happens you are on your own"), and seems to be referring to 'protection' in the context of ability to use FOS services.

I just thought that with all that is going on in the markets at the moment, any newbies coming across this post might find it helpful to have this information and maybe bookmark it for latter reference.

masonic

The FSCS investment checker gives a "possibly protected" result when entering scenarios where there is protection, so may do more harm than good.

Milkbutnosugar

Hello, I started the discussion, so I'll add what happened.  Raisin UK asked for my instructions for a fixed term bond that was due to mature.  I replied that I couldn't give any instruction because my account had been blocked for 2 months - you need an access code by text message in order to verify your identity as an account holder.  Raisin removed the block and since then I've closed and withdrawn my savings from the ten savings accounts which I had within the Raisin 'envelope'.  My complaint was about verifying the source of my funds, which I had stated as inheritance.  As a result, Raisin demanded to see documents including my mother's will.  My bank (Lloyds) received the full inheritance payment without that intrusive demand.  Other savings account providers did not ask for this private information (eg. Coventry Building Society, Oaknorth Bank, Kent Reliance).  Now I have just £1.00 with Raisin in order to keep my account records available in case of future need.  Raisin UK is the subsidiary of a German company - maybe they over-apply British anti-fraud measures?  I don't know but I won't risk another blocked investment.  Thanks for the replies to my earlier post.

friolento

Under their UK licence, subject to UK legislation, Raisin are fully entitled to ask for proof of the source of your funds. The fact that they are a subsidiary of a foreign company is neither here nor there. Other financial services companies operating in the UK also have this entitlement even if they have choosen not to ask you. You can find details of the licence entitlements and obligations on the FCA and PRA websites but the easiest and speediest is to simply supply the requested information to Raisin.

GeoffTF

Milkbutnosugar said:

Hello, I started the discussion, so I'll add what happened.  Raisin UK asked for my instructions for a fixed term bond that was due to mature.  I replied that I couldn't give any instruction because my account had been blocked for 2 months - you need an access code by text message in order to verify your identity as an account holder.  Raisin removed the block and since then I've closed and withdrawn my savings from the ten savings accounts which I had within the Raisin 'envelope'.  My complaint was about verifying the source of my funds, which I had stated as inheritance.  As a result, Raisin demanded to see documents including my mother's will.  My bank (Lloyds) received the full inheritance payment without that intrusive demand.  Other savings account providers did not ask for this private information (eg. Coventry Building Society, Oaknorth Bank, Kent Reliance).  Now I have just £1.00 with Raisin in order to keep my account records available in case of future need.  Raisin UK is the subsidiary of a German company - maybe they over-apply British anti-fraud measures?  I don't know but I won't risk another blocked investment.  Thanks for the replies to my earlier post.

You do not appear to have had anything valid to complain about, so it does not matter that the FOS was not able to consider your complaint. As far as the general point about deposit aggregators is concerned, I would not be keen to use Raisin, but I have an account with HL and might use them if I had a good reason to do so.