Barclays Online Application on 5th April Allowed 07/08 ISA, letter says 08/09

mrjlang · 10 April 2008 at 8:50PM

Hi, I made an online application for a barclays ISA on the 5th April. The web site had 2 available options 07/08 and 08/09 - i selected 07/08.
The letter I have received today states they are opening an 08/09 isa.
I have called them, and they suggest it would be impossible for them to have opened an 07/08 account for an application made on the 5th, whether their website allowed it or not.
No warning on the web site. No warning in the T&Cs on the site, read before making the application.
What does anyone think/suggest?

liitleblackcat · 10 April 2008 at 9:11PM

Every tax year ends at midnight on 5th April so if your application was accepted on 5th April 2008 it must be an ISA for 2007/08. You can't put money into a 2008/09 ISA until after midnight (ie on 6th April). It seems to me that the important thing is when the account was opened. I would write to them and ask them what they are playing at (and keep copies of the correspondence). As long as you are sure you did everything on the 5th and paid with a debit card, it should be easy to prove it.

Mikeyorks · 10 April 2008 at 10:05PM

liitleblackcat wrote: »

Every tax year ends at midnight on 5th April so if your application was accepted on 5th April 2008 it must be an ISA for 2007/08.

Sorry but that's not the case. A number of institutions accept 'advance' orders for 08-09 ISAs. I both opened and funded one in early March.

mrjlang wrote:

What does anyone think/suggest?

..... that you got too close to the wire.

nathanhill69 · 11 April 2008 at 10:03AM

Mikeyorks wrote: »

..... that you got too close to the wire.

It's irrelevant wether it was "too close to the wire", if the cut off point for 07/08 subscriptions is midnight 5th April and Barclays accepted the ISA application before that deadline then it's a valid application.

Last year the same thing happened with Barclays and their inept processing of ISA's - people applying for one tax year and Barclays in-correctly assigning a different tax year.

To be fair this year there currently seems to be less dis-satisfaction in Barclays ability to correctly process the ISA applications so hopefully they have learnt something from last years debacle.