Help to buy ISA closure

ralfonso

Hi my son has a help2 buy ISA with the Cumberland, he has paid into it for nearly 5 years, to the point he has almost £12k in it, the Cumberland has decided to close his account with no explanation, he has complained to them and the ombudsman, but all to no avail, as the amount is not over the £20k threshold he is not too bothered, but it is more the principle that they can do this with no reason or justification, and the possible loss of the government bonus, He has tried to transfer to another ISA with HL, this has to be a stocks and shares ISA, initiated in the usual way, but it seems the Cumberland is blocking this for some reason, they are offering him a cheque but as he is with chase, (after they closed his current account) they do not accept cheques. How can they do this.

Exodi

What did the FOS say?

You say they closed his account but then go on to say 'possible loss of the government bonus' and about initiating transfers between ISA's - which suggests the account is not closed?

And he is not bothered?

I think there is much more to this story, maybe some you're not aware of...

Ch1ll1Phlakes

I agree with Exodi. I don't think this is as straightforward as this sounds. Your son needs to contact Cumberland to see why they closed the account. As it's an ISA Cumberland shouldn't be forcing him to receive a Cheque

Exodi

Ch1ll1Phlakes said:

I agree with Exodi. I don't think this is as straightforward as this sounds. Your son needs to contact Cumberland to see why they closed the account. As it's an ISA Cumberland shouldn't be forcing him to receive a Cheque

The OP states they have complained to the bank to no avail.

Regardless, the bank are not obliged to tell their account holders why they closed an account - particularly where they suspect fraud/money-laundering/misuse. If the FOS has investigated and sided with the bank then it seems they acted reasonably.

If I'm honest, the fact the son is seemingly 'not too bothered' hinted to me that the son may be aware of the true reason it was closed - but I'm mindful to not get carried away in speculation.

But without more detail we can only speculate, and if the FOS has investigated it with all the details in front of them, they'd be in a far better position to inform the OP on the situation, than random strangers on the internet based on a short recount of events from one side.

Ch1ll1Phlakes

Exodi said:

But without more detail we can only speculate, and if the FOS has investigated it with all the details in front of them, they'd be in a far better position to inform the OP on the situation, than random strangers on the internet based on a short recount of events from one side.

Very true. I suggested contacting Cumberland for some information as without contacting someone no information will be available. And again you're right that FOS probably is the best place for that information

wmb194

ralfonso said:

Hi my son has a help2 buy ISA with the Cumberland, he has paid into it for nearly 5 years, to the point he has almost £12k in it,

the Cumberland has decided to close his account with no explanation,

he has complained to them and the ombudsman, but all to no avail,

as the amount is not over the £20k threshold he is not too bothered, but it is more the principle that they can do this with no reason or justification, and the possible loss of the government bonus,

 He has tried to transfer to another ISA with HL, this has to be a stocks and shares ISA, initiated in the usual way, but it seems the Cumberland is blocking this for some reason,

they are offering him a cheque but as he is with chase, (after they closed his current account) they do not accept cheques. How can they do this.

Well, he needs to open an account that accepts cheques. For resiliency it's a good idea to have at least one other current account anyway.

It sounds like an immediate account closure - does he have a CIFAS marker? Has he had/is he having any issues with other banks and BS'? To avoid falling foul of the law for 'tipping off' they don't have to tell you why.

When you write, "after they closed his current account" I'm guessing that means he also had his Cumberland current closed, so it wasn't just the HTB Isa?