LISA (gone wrong) advice needed

Tommyg2021

Hi all

A quick backstory, I opened a LISA with Moneybox a few years ago and started saving but had to withdraw the whole balance due to a financial emergency leaving me with £0 in it. Then January this year I decided I wanted to start saving in my LISA again but saw Tembo had a better rate so in January transferred the £0 balance LISA from Moneybox to Tembo.

However it's been a complete disaster since and I have essentially been "locked out" of my LISA and been unable to use. It's now nearly 24 weeks later and the LISA is still stuck on being transferred. Moneybox claim they have done everything there end, Tembo claim Moneybox have not sent them the correct documentation to allow them to transfer the LISA and allow me to start putting money into it.

I have been back and fourth over and over again with both of them but I just seems to be going round in circles all the time with both companies saying the other is at fault and essentially "we can't help...it's there fault" etc. All the while I can't do anything with my LISA.

And I am also missing out on the government bonus and interest I would of earned on that and the whole thing is getting to me and has become incredibly frustrating. 

Doe's anyone have any idea's what I could do next? Is this something the financial ombudsman could help with?

Thanks for reading.

MattMattMattUK

Tommyg2021 said:

Hi all

A quick backstory, I opened a LISA with Moneybox a few years ago and started saving but had to withdraw the whole balance due to a financial emergency leaving me with £0 in it. Then January this year I decided I wanted to start saving in my LISA again but saw Tembo had a better rate so in January transferred the £0 balance LISA from Moneybox to Tembo.

However it's been a complete disaster since and I have essentially been "locked out" of my LISA and been unable to use. It's now nearly 24 weeks later and the LISA is still stuck on being transferred. Moneybox claim they have done everything there end, Tembo claim Moneybox have not sent them the correct documentation to allow them to transfer the LISA and allow me to start putting money into it.

I have been back and fourth over and over again with both of them but I just seems to be going round in circles all the time with both companies saying the other is at fault and essentially "we can't help...it's there fault" etc. All the while I can't do anything with my LISA.

And I am also missing out on the government bonus and interest I would of earned on that and the whole thing is getting to me and has become incredibly frustrating. 

Doe's anyone have any idea's what I could do next? Is this something the financial ombudsman could help with?

Thanks for reading.

As it is empty why not just open a new one, or are you over 40?

Tommyg2021

MattMattMattUK said:

Tommyg2021 said:

Hi all

A quick backstory, I opened a LISA with Moneybox a few years ago and started saving but had to withdraw the whole balance due to a financial emergency leaving me with £0 in it. Then January this year I decided I wanted to start saving in my LISA again but saw Tembo had a better rate so in January transferred the £0 balance LISA from Moneybox to Tembo.

However it's been a complete disaster since and I have essentially been "locked out" of my LISA and been unable to use. It's now nearly 24 weeks later and the LISA is still stuck on being transferred. Moneybox claim they have done everything there end, Tembo claim Moneybox have not sent them the correct documentation to allow them to transfer the LISA and allow me to start putting money into it.

I have been back and fourth over and over again with both of them but I just seems to be going round in circles all the time with both companies saying the other is at fault and essentially "we can't help...it's there fault" etc. All the while I can't do anything with my LISA.

And I am also missing out on the government bonus and interest I would of earned on that and the whole thing is getting to me and has become incredibly frustrating. 

Doe's anyone have any idea's what I could do next? Is this something the financial ombudsman could help with?

Thanks for reading.

As it is empty why not just open a new one, or are you over 40?

Yes 41 now so opening a new one is not an option.

masonic

The Financial Ombudsman can probably help, though it won't be quick. Have you previously raised a complaint about this more than 8 weeks ago? Against one or both firms?

itsthelittlethings

Maybe it's frozen as it has nothing in it and you are now over 40.

masonic

itsthelittlethings said:

Maybe it's frozen as it has nothing in it and you are now over 40.

Contributions can be made until you are aged 50.

Kim_13

masonic said:

itsthelittlethings said:

Maybe it's frozen as it has nothing in it and you are now over 40.

Contributions can be made until you are aged 50.

They can indeed, but withdrawing to £0 rather than £1 would usually lead to an account being closed and thus there would be nothing active to transfer.

MDMD

Moneybox never close accounts from my experience, they just “freeze” them

masonic

Kim_13 said:

masonic said:

itsthelittlethings said:

Maybe it's frozen as it has nothing in it and you are now over 40.

Contributions can be made until you are aged 50.

They can indeed, but withdrawing to £0 rather than £1 would usually lead to an account being closed and thus there would be nothing active to transfer.

In MoneyBox's opinion, the account has not been closed, indeed they believe it was alive and well and able to be transferred out. The issue appears to be around incorrect documentation being sent for the transfer. One possible solution would be to cancel the transfer and reinstate at MoneyBox.

Kim_13

masonic said:

Kim_13 said:

masonic said:

itsthelittlethings said:

Maybe it's frozen as it has nothing in it and you are now over 40.

Contributions can be made until you are aged 50.

They can indeed, but withdrawing to £0 rather than £1 would usually lead to an account being closed and thus there would be nothing active to transfer.

In MoneyBox's opinion, the account has not been closed, indeed they believe it was alive and well and able to be transferred out. The issue appears to be around incorrect documentation being sent for the transfer. One possible solution would be to cancel the transfer and reinstate at MoneyBox.

That’s certainly worth a go. If you pay in £1 it would make a future transfer easier and make sure you weren’t left with no LISA.

Tommyg2021

Really appreciate the help and repsonse given on here. I will try and add some money back into my Moneybox LISA and see what happens. Deposits are currently frozen but there is an option to "chat to unfreeze them" so will see what they say.

If that fails I guess the ombudsman is my  only option. I am 41 so have the potential of still earning £9,000 in government bonuses....that's a lot of money to me so there has to be a way to resolve this issue.