Plum WITHHOLDING Government LISA Bonus

SGRIEW

As plum is the MSE number 1 recommended LISA provider why are Plum not paying the government bonus on time or even at all? I paid in the full allowance on 6th April 2026 and I have still not received the £1000 government bonus. I have emailed them on 2nd June and I was told that payment would be paid in the first 10 days of June which is much later than any other year that it has been paid but today 11th JUNE it has still not been paid with no reply to my email.

masonic

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6672168/plum-withholding-government-lisa-bonus

What evidence do you have that they are withholding it? It seems more likely there has simply been a delay in the claim process. How long have they had so far to respond to your latest email?

It's worth noting that the MSE Top LISAs table is sorted by rate, not speed of paying the bonus.

IOWJJBTM2025

Last month I tried for 2 weeks to open a cash ISA account with Plum. I got the app on my phone and it would not let me open an account. I messaged them and got a response after a week which suggested to keep trying as they were having difficulties with the App. After another week I chased them again and got no response. Although the Cash ISA interest rate offer was good, I just took it to be a bit of a warning. If they cannot be bothered to look after a potential new customer, what response would I get if I was an existing customer?

If you got a response from them, in my experience you are doing well. Realise you said that they advised that the money would be in the account and they are late by a day. Maybe give them a couple more days to allow for payments? Sometimes transfers can be instant and then sometimes it can take days to clear - it may be the Government end delaying? Good Luck.

dunstonh

The payment of the bonus is a bit like tax relief on pensions. The LISA provider will make a claim once a month in a single batch for everyone. HMRC then pay it about four weeks later.

If you have just missed the claim for that month, then your claim won't occur until the following month. The time scale can be anything between four and nine weeks, typically.

A payment made on the 6th of April that has yet to arrive suggests you missed the April reclaim date.

SGRIEW

My previous bank always paid the bonus on the 25th of every month.

I contacted Plum on 2nd June to ask when it would be paid and they said in the first 10 days of June if it wasn’t paid (and it wasn't) to contact them again which I did on the 11th but the I got was that they are too busy to reply. Still no payment today on the 12th and no reply still. I think they are withholding it to avoid paying interest on it to get interest on it themselves.

Normally in every other year the payment I made on the 6th April has resulted in the bonus being paid at the end of May. Why is it different with Plum?

masonic

Plum is not a bank. They rely on third party partner banks and most of their operations are automated. Their live chat feature implies they have just a handful of humans covering their customer service. That means their processes and support will tend to take longer. That said, when I was with them I usually got a same day, helpful, reply, but of course I was only asking for information, which is in the power of CS agents, whereas the government bonus claim process is not.

If you prefer better service then perhaps switch back to your old provider. Most credit by the end of the next month or early in month 3 in my experience.

Your suggestion that they've had the money for a couple of weeks already (i.e. since the end of May) and are deliberately withholding it is not credible in the slightest. This would be a criminal offence. If you really believe this, why are you risking any of your money in a firm you believe to be criminal? If I believed I'd been tricked into giving my money to criminals I'd be trying to get it out of there ASAP.

clairec666

The "10 days" may mean "10 working days", although they should have made this clear

dunstonh

My previous bank always paid the bonus on the 25th of every month.

That is irrelevant. There's not a fixed date in the month when the reclaim is submitted. The exact “cut‑off” dates vary by provider, because it is tied to their own internal schedule for compiling and uploading the monthly return file to HMRC.

I think they are withholding it to avoid paying interest on it to get interest on it themselves.

That is just being silly. You're new here, so you may not understand that posters here generally act with more maturity.

Normally in every other year the payment I made on the 6th April has resulted in the bonus being paid at the end of May. Why is it different with Plum?

Already answered.

Ch1ll1Phlakes

For anyone wondering how the government bonus works for a Plum LISA see the following help page on their website.

Lifetime ISA - Government Bonus | Plum Help Center

A deposit on the 6th April may not be reported to HMRC until the 20th of May, according to this page, though this was a Saturday so was maybe not sent until Monday 22nd. @SGRIEW reported Plum said 10 days into June for this to be paid (the help page says rather ambiguously the first few day) though if this was 10 working days it should be paid by today (Friday 12th June).

eskbanker

The timescales for paying bonuses are set out in the legislation, and require the LISA manager to claim within 14 days of the end of each bonus period, and for the government to pay within the following 14 days. In each case the 14 days starts on the day after the preceding period, which could be read to mean that claims need to be made by the 20th and paid by the 4th or 5th of the following month (excluding February to March).

(4) The claim is to be made within 14 days beginning with the day after the end of a claim period.

(5) The Board (subject to checking and if necessary correcting the amount of the claim) must pay the account manager any government bonus amount that is due—

(a)where the claim is made by the due date, within 14 days beginning with the day after the due date for the claim; and

(b)where the claim is made later than the due date, within 14 days beginning with the day after the due date for a claim for the claim period in which the late claim is made.

https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1998/1870/schedule/paragraph/2

masonic

For the avoidance of doubt, that is consistent with @Ch1ll1Phlakes workings, the only bit that doesn't tally is the "first 10 days in June" comment:

• A deposit on 6th April falls into the 6th April - 5th May claim period
• Needs to be reported to HMRC by 20th May
• Would expect this to be credited by 4th June

If it's the result of a late claim by Plum, then it may not turn up until w/c 22nd June.

Normally I fund my S&S LISA in April, but I haven't this year. Otherwise I could have commented on when that payment was credited. In the past there have been occasions where my LISA provider has delayed payment due to not having received the bonus in a timely manner - though not in the last few years. For example: https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/news/2021/06/lifetime-isa-customers-bonus-delay-hmrc-technical-error/

No such article this year, at least not so far.