ISA transfer nightmare

stuartm100

Hoping for a bit of advice.

I opened a fixed-rate ISA with Halifax back in January with the intention of putting the 07-08 allowance in (which I had already fully saved in an Abbey ISA).

I completed the ISA transfer form and returned this to Halifax. I then received a letter on 23rd January from Abbey stating my ISA was closed and the funds sent to Halifax.

To date, the funds have never got to my new account; Halifax tell me the cheque wasn't enclosed with Abbey's letter, everytime I phone Abbey I seem to get a different explanation and basically just get fobbed off.

I've made two written Complaints to Abbey's ISA Complaints team in Glasgow, and have had no official response.

As my money has been "missing" for almost 3 Months now I'm pretty angry; Halifax say they will backdate the interest once the money is received to the date I applied for the transfer, but now we're in a new tax year I don't know if this is possible.

Any thoughts on how I can get Abbey to talk to me and give me some kind of explanation?

Many Thanks

Milarky

stuartm100 wrote: »

As my money has been "missing" for almost 3 Months now I'm pretty angry; Halifax say they will backdate the interest once the money is received to the date I applied for the transfer, but now we're in a new tax year I don't know if this is possible

This shouldn't make any difference to the tax man as you are transferring what was already in an ISA (so the investment will always remain an 'ISA' as long as you don't draw it out) Late (paid) interest likewise has no effect on annual allowance limits so can received at any time.

Any thoughts on how I can get Abbey to talk to me and give me some kind of explanation?

Well, if Abbey didn't enclose the cheque as expected with their letter of transfer that's prima facie evidence that they screwed up rather than the other lot. I would report what Halifax has told you to their 'customer satisfaction' department and state your demands - the least of which is that they complete the transfer by cancelling the old cheque and dispatching a new one. You can refer the matter to FOS eight weeks after you first complained (assuming this time has already passed) anyway. Ask Abbey for adequate compensation for stress and inconvenience - at least £100 - once they have completed on this task

Optimist

If its been more than 6 weeks since your letter of complaint to Abbey with no satisfaction then get in touch with the financial ombudsman.

http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/publications/consumer-leaflet.htm

You say you sent the letter to Glasgow I though the abbey complaints dept was in Milton Keynes

Complaints Department
Abbey
PO BOX 5129
Milton Keynes
MK9 2YN

Mikeyorks

The fact the tax year has ended doesn't stop Halifax backdating the interest position ..... if their offer is still on the table.

And if you pursue Abbey for an element of justified compensation .... try to get them to stick it in the ISA funds. That's allowed if it's a transfer issue .... and doesn't impact any annual allowance. If it's a delay in opening an ISA .... any compensation has to be paid directly to you and outside the ISA.

stuartm100

Optimist wrote: »

You say you sent the letter to Glasgow I though the abbey complaints dept was in Milton Keynes

Complaints Department
Abbey
PO BOX 5129
Milton Keynes
MK9 2YN

Abbey advise you to Complain to the Department you're having an issue with first, the office in Milton Keynes is for escalated complaints if it can't be resolved first go.

I got a "sorry you've had to complain" letter a day or two after I sent the first one, which was from a complaints team in Glasgow, but I'm going to ring the MK office tomorrow and see what they have to say.

I haven't got a straight answer out of them whether the cheque was issued or not; I was told in February by Abbey that the cheque had been cashed into a BOS account, although they weren't sure what account...then a couple of weeks later they told me the cheque was never issued, I've also been referred to their Fraud office who didn't have a clue what I was talking about!

stuartm100

Mikeyorks wrote: »

The fact the tax year has ended doesn't stop Halifax backdating the interest position ..... if their offer is still on the table./quote]

Halifax have assured me that as non of this is my fault I'll get everything backdated and the interest rate I originally applied for (6.25% for 2 years), I said what about the 60 day rule for the interest rate, and I was told it wouldn't be a problem, but I think I'll get onto them and ask for that in writing

Thanks for the replies everyone

jem16

stuartm100 wrote: »

Abbey advise you to Complain to the Department you're having an issue with first, the office in Milton Keynes is for escalated complaints if it can't be resolved first go.

I got a "sorry you've had to complain" letter a day or two after I sent the first one, which was from a complaints team in Glasgow, but I'm going to ring the MK office tomorrow and see what they have to say.

Don't hold your breath waiting. It took the MIlton Keynes office 12 weeks to respond to my complaint last June. Even then they still didn't know what had happened but enclosed a cheque for £50.

This was because they made such a mess trying to transfer in an ISA to them.

sloughflint

Abbey should be able to put a stop to the cheque and rebuild the account with accrued interest.
They would need to be told by Halifax though (not you) that the cheque has not been received.

10_66

When this happened to me last year between Abbey & A&L, I had to contact A&L requesting that the cheque be stopped an re-issued. A&L re-opened the account, added the interest from when the first cheque had been issued and then closed and re-issued a cheque for the revised figure.

janey07

When I received my Isa statement from Abbey at the end of March, I was shocked to say the least to find that they had transferred my Cash Isa into someone else's name!!!!
To say this is a fraudulent act is an understatement. It is a breach of Data Protection at least. My financial details have been disclosed to another person. Thankfully that person is my daughter( incidentally,with a completely different name)otherwise my account could by now have been cleared out.She has not and has never held any accounts with Abbey and is understandably unhappy as to how they have acquired her name. The matter is with the Complaint Dept at Abbey whose only explanation is that it is a computer error which I am not satisfied with. What database are they using? Has anyone else had a similar problem?
Thanks