Barclays Tax Haven ISA: Have you opened one?

TomsMom

kentman44 wrote: »

barclays isa applied for my 08/09 isa on 4th april and wrote cheque for £3600 which still remains in my account wonder if i will loose a months interest or more hen it is finely opened

This is what OH and I are wondering.

Barclays have had cheques totalling £7,200 of our money, taken out of accounts paying approx 6% gross to be sitting in our current accounts earning zilch. We did this on the understanding that Barclays would pay interest from the day after cheque was received (given that info by the Barclays ISA expert) and now it appears that if they delay opening the ISA more than two weeks they will start paying interest from the two week point.

So it looks like we have lost two weeks' interest on £7,200 because of the misleading information given to us by Barclays and I'm sure there are many others in the same situation.

antispam246

MishterTea wrote: »

I feared that may be the case although antispam246's statement made me think otherwise:



Cheers,
- Rich

Just to clarify. The initial £3000 was transfered from my current account from the initial application to open the ISA NOT from online banking, unfortunately, this isn't an option, as I was hoping to use this to simply transfer the £3600 later but I had to go into the branch to do it (or you can call the number that they give you in the ISA welcome letter).

Lokolo

antispam246 wrote: »

Just to clarify. The initial £3000 was transfered from my current account from the initial application to open the ISA NOT from online banking, unfortunately, this isn't an option, as I was hoping to use this to simply transfer the £3600 later but I had to go into the branch to do it (or you can call the number that they give you in the ISA welcome letter).

Ah thanks for clearing that up! That means you definately cannot put money in your Barclays ISA through online banking.

BigL_2

Visited my Branch of Barclays on March 29th with my wife to open a cash ISA each. Queued for an hour before we finally managed to apply via the lady who filled in the details on her computer. Then, over a week later we both received a letter saying that there was not enough money in the account so the application was cancelled. But we have an arrangement with Barclays where just £250 is kept in the current account and more is drawn automatically from a feeder account. So, we complained but have heard nothing. There was more than enough money to cover the two ISAs and we intend to demand the interest that we have lost out on.

BankofDad_2

From the deluge of negative replies regarding the Barclays ISA, I've decided to bail out if I can. Presumably if I put a stop on my cheque Barclays will cancel my application automatically.

I already have the funds in my Alliance & Leicester account, so this morning I will contact A & L to see if I can put in an application for a Direct ISA issue 4, which is currently giving 6.25% (see http://www.alliance-leicester.co.uk/savings/index.asp?page=direct-isa&ct=savingshome ). Also existing funds can be transferred in.

All right, I will lose 2 weeks' interest from the Barclays ISA (if it ever gets processed), but for £9 I can at least get my ISA up and running and I have a strong desire to show Barclays that customers can vote with their feet :mad: !!

Watch this space....

TuftyMatt

Good for you,

The sooner these banks start to realise they can't mess their customers around the better the service should become.

Then again if they get in the S**T due to everyone leaving I am sure Mr Darling will come to their rescue.

joshm_2

joshm wrote: »

Applied over the phone at end of March/beginning of April for 08/09 account (before new tax year had begun). Tried several times to do it online but just got a message saying this was not possible (so I'm surprised to hear that some people managed it). Received a letter dated 3rd April saying that application had been received and to expect a welcome pack, but have heard nothing since. As with others, I have my 3600 sitting in my current account held with them. I could open an e-savings account but when Barclays finally pull their finger out and withdraw funds, that will leave my account overdrawn. At this point I've no doubt they'll be double-quick in charging me. I will just rely on their word that they will back-date the interest.

Eureka. My account has been opened as of 1 May. No welcome pack yet though.

Baldur

BankofDad wrote: »

I already have the funds in my Alliance & Leicester account, so this morning I will contact A & L to see if I can put in an application for a Direct ISA issue 4, which is currently giving 6.25% (see http://www.alliance-leicester.co.uk/savings/index.asp?page=direct-isa&ct=savingshome ). Also existing funds can be transferred in.

Suggest that you revisit the A & L site, the Direct ISA 4 is currently 6.0% (including bonus) not 6.25%.

deep_pockets

well just checked on my barclays online banking and the transfer into my barclays tax haven isa that i had to request in branch(unable to do online) 4 DAYS AGO has still not been done.

they had to fax the transfer request form off to isa central processing dept suppossidly.
just been on mse expert savings calculator and worked out have lost so far £2.46 in interest!!
so now off to the same branch to kick some a** and fill in customer complaint form and demand compensation for my loss.

wish me good luck.

multiply these figures out nationwide and i suppose its one way of barclays getting back what their overpaid experts in the city lost due to subprime gambles

missyg_3

£1.87 interest was added to mine on 1 May. I assume this is the interest since 28 April, when it finally opened (I applied mid-March) without any backdated interest... guess I'll wait a few days before enquiring. Has anyone else had the same?