NS ESA - Adding UC claim

Altior

I saved the CSD terms here, impossible for a human to decipher I'd suggest!

I think I just want to get on with the UC application now. And withdraw one of the £500s

HillStreetBlues

My reading of it. If a person took it out 15th Feb, it is "locked" at the end of June,( this means CB should be paid if withdrawing in July or after).
Invoice date the 2nd July then payment by 1st August.

Altior

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82077504#Comment_82077504

Broadly, yes that was also my interpretation. The other bullet alludes to a 90 day cut off for the £500 minimum invested. I am past that, so an outside chance possibly that I could withdraw from the account, leaving some funds and not close it, and still qualify.

I opened the accounts in April so the 'lock' I would anticipate is the end of August. These were the headline terms, which don't mention a tie in.

kaMelo

Did yours track correctly? And if so are you still at 'pending'?

I read the 'Batch Uploading' as they will upload all transactions every six months, rather than each individual having a six month tie in.

Altior

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82077758#Comment_82077758

I did both, GIA and ISA.

I was just refreshing my knowledge around the platform fees. £5 per month minimum, levied twice a year (start of April and start of October). Pretty expensive at £30 for six months, but I was factoring in the CB.

I have pretty much settled on withdrawing from one of them next month now, and taking my chances. If the tie in is consistent with the SIPP as per the detailed terms, then it should be three months for the GIA and ISA. In reality it's a much bigger risk to faced a bounced payment. CSD is also pretty dated with withdrawals, three working days unless you pay a £25 fee.

kaMelo

It would be shame to risk an easy (compared to other offers) £150.by withdrawing your investment. I'm in a similar situation having opened both in April with both sitting at pending currently. Having said that I am aware you have a much bigger picture to look at overall at the moment.

Also, ignore my previous comment which only took one part of the terms. Reading all the terms together I thing the 'lock in' is after four months then a batch upload of all transactions after six months which is when I would expect any cashback to become payable.

Altior

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82077780#Comment_82077780

Indeed, I'm pretty good at identifying legitimate work arounds, that has basically been half of my career. It is so tight though.

Basically the ESA is just short of £600 in the month, about £140 to play with that's not 'locked', but I'll need about £1100 to pay all of my bills on 1st September (including the credit card minimums).

UC advance is only the next payment I was reading, and I'm pretty sure waiting for cashback wouldn't qualify for a hardship advance!

kaMelo

and I'm pretty sure waiting for cashback wouldn't qualify for a hardship advance!

That did make me chuckle.

Altior

All may not be lost for me regarding the cashback. I have two RS's with MONBS, I've cleared both balances down to nil. Maturity is in September, I called MONBS today and their CS confirmed that I can close the accounts early, and the accrued interest will be paid to my nominated account. When I opened these of course it was still peak stoozing for me, so the 7% one had £8K until March, I fully emptied in May. The 6% one had £3.5K until March. Maybe £200+ interest there, combined.

At least I can close the MONBS accounts after the UC application, and identify exactly how much the accrued interest is.

Altior

My convo is now in another stratosphere to the original topic, but with regard to the evolved conversation and to keep it up to date, I have decided to invoke the mortgage charter (6 mth interest only), and changed payment dates on CCs. So I won't need to close the MONBS accounts now.

I was definitely planning to hold the mortgage charter option back in reserve, but after some consideration, it makes most sense in this most compressed period, whilst I will be in the waiting period for SMI. And the bank's software will obviously realise my scenario has changed anyway, once they receive the SMI paperwork. The claim is that using the mortgage charter doesn't impact the credit reports, guess I will find out!