Bank closed ISA in error

granta

Sorry to hear of your loss.

I don't have experience of ISAs related to probate and any additional complexities.

However, I just wanted to share that a couple of years ago, a bank mistakenly transferred out funds from my ISA to an unwrapped account and closed the ISA. I had not given any such instruction. Once I let them know, they reversed the action and sorted it out with HMRC, put the money back into the ISA and then proceeded with an ISA transfer out. They also compensated me for their error.

So it would be better to raise a complaint. Once you do this, they have set time limits in which they have to respond and carry out any remedial action. It will also be overseen by a complaints team who are used to dealing with mistakes so it doesn't matter what the customer service person says to you on the phone as it may not be true. In my years of using banking services, I have experienced various mistakes and nearly all have been rectified, including the ISA one.

xylophone

With regard to his pension, are you sure that you need probate to access it?

With regard to APS, I wonder would it be worth considering transferring the APS from NW to NS&I now so as to move the money out of  NW and then adding the NS&I APS after probate?

https://www.nsandi.com/products/direct-isa

You could call 08085 007007 to enquire.

marymck

Thanks Granta. That's really good to know. The bereavement team said they would call me back tomorrow, but I don't think I could trust anything they say now. I have lodged an official complaint. 

And thanks xylophone for the suggestion about transferring to NS&I. I will look into it. I had thought it would be smoothest to leave the ISAs in place until after probate when i could get all my ducks in a row. But Nwide have scuppered that.

The drawdown pension people asked for a copy of the will and I had to complete a questionnaire to help them decide if they would require a grant of probate. I'm assuming they will but hoping they won't. They've not been exactly speedy.

xylophone

The drawdown pension people asked for a copy of the will and I had to complete a questionnaire to help them decide if they would require a grant of probate. I'm assuming they will but hoping they won't. They've not been exactly speedy.

Usually such a pension would pass to the nominated beneficiary/ies  and not via a will, but there may be circumstances specific to your situation. 

As for the time taken by the administrator, judging by many other posts on the subject of accessing a pension, your experience is not at all unusual.

marymck

I'm getting more and more frustrated with Nationwide. The Bereavement team have been very apologetic over what they admit was their mistake. The young man who made the mistake has been trying very hard to have the transaction reversed and it's good that he phones me regularly and keeps me updated.

As I said to him, any one can make a mistake but the measure if a company is how it goes about rectifying that mistake.

Unfortunately, in Nationwide's case it is a specialist department that has to reverse the transaction; not the Bereavement team that closed the account in error.

When the Bereavement Team contacted the specialist department with all the information necessary, the specialist team emailed the Bereavement team back and told them to contact the Bereavement team! Aargh!

Since then, they've just not responded to multiple requests from the Bereavement team.

It is so frustrating. I know the young man who made the mistake is equally frustrated. The account was closed on 22nd October. It's now 4th November and counting.

I did lodge a formal complaint on 26th October when I became aware that they'd closed the account. I will chase up the Complaints Department because now my emphasis is shifting from the initial mistake to the complete lack of action and communication from the department that is supposed to be putting things right.

friolento

Once a matter has gone into complaint status, it can quite possibly take weeks for it to be resolved, as they are most likely working through complaints in the order they have received them. You need to be patient, it will eventually be resolved, and I am sure they will pay you a generous sum for the distress caused.  Have you got a complaint number yet? 

If you run out of patience, you might consider writing to the Nationwide CEO, Debbie Crosby. She won't be resolving the matter herself but she has an Executive Complaints Team who are generally more competent than the lower charges. Debbie dot Crosby at nationwide dot co dot uk

Newly_retired

This may be totally irrelevant to you, marymck, but when my husband died, his bank ( Lloyds) once they had seen the death certificate, transferred all his accounts, including an ISA, to the new account I had opened with them for this purpose. I had no trouble couple of weeks later, opening a new ISA with them under the APS regulations, using that exact amount, even though his ISA had been closed. Yes, there was a form to fill in, but I didn’t  see it as an obstacle and had no doubt that the ISA amount would be honoured. Later, I transferred it out to one paying a better rate. 

granta

marymck said:

I'm getting more and more frustrated with Nationwide. The Bereavement team have been very apologetic over what they admit was their mistake. The young man who made the mistake has been trying very hard to have the transaction reversed and it's good that he phones me regularly and keeps me updated.

As I said to him, any one can make a mistake but the measure if a company is how it goes about rectifying that mistake.

Unfortunately, in Nationwide's case it is a specialist department that has to reverse the transaction; not the Bereavement team that closed the account in error.

When the Bereavement Team contacted the specialist department with all the information necessary, the specialist team emailed the Bereavement team back and told them to contact the Bereavement team! Aargh!

Since then, they've just not responded to multiple requests from the Bereavement team.

It is so frustrating. I know the young man who made the mistake is equally frustrated. The account was closed on 22nd October. It's now 4th November and counting.

I did lodge a formal complaint on 26th October when I became aware that they'd closed the account. I will chase up the Complaints Department because now my emphasis is shifting from the initial mistake to the complete lack of action and communication from the department that is supposed to be putting things right.

There are statutory timescales for when a bank should respond, usually 8 weeks to resolve a complaint, but 15 days for some types of complaint. See this: How to complain | FCA

If they haven't resolved it within 8 weeks, you can take your complaint to the Financial Ombudsman though in practice, I'm not sure whether this quickens the process [I had a similar situation and I recall Forum members saying it wouldn't make much difference to the outcome].

Hopefully someone from Complaints will get in touch with you shortly to introduce themselves and perhaps hear your side of the story. When I've had cause to complain about mistakes in the past, I've found that the Complaints person becomes my main point of contact and then they do all the internal chasing of other departments and make things happen to get a resolution, in your case, a reversal of the ISA mistake.

I would raise these additional frustrations with them that have happened since the original issue and ask them to 'add' it all to the complaint. They should take all of it into account, and particularly under more sensitive circumstances.

marymck

Thanks to all for your help and encouragement. I have now heard from the Complaints person. She was very apologetic and assures me that Nationwide have opened a new ISA in my late husband's name and backdated it to the day that they mistakenly closed his original ISA (23nd Oct). 
She has promised me a letter setting all that out, so that I can use it should HMRC come calling, along with statements for both ISAs. She offered me £150 compensation.
Somewhat distressingly I then received a letter addressed to my late husband, asking him to sign an ISA declaration.
I told the Complaints lady about that. It was yet another sloppy mistake by Nationwide, for which she apologised and upped the compensation to £200. 
I understand the compensation is taxable.

friolento

Incredible, so much incompetence from Nationwide. It's good to see that there is some progress in the right direction. The £200 is quite mean as compensation for what they put you through.

I don't believe the compensation in this case is taxable, as it is mainly for the distress they caused you.
https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/capital-gains-manual/cg13030