Kent Reliance Woes
MoneyLooser
Posts: 5 Forumite
Dear all,
My first post here and I come with a sad and frustrating tale.
On 1st May I tried to open a 1 year ISA with the Kent Reliance online. All was going well until I got right to the very end and the terms and conditions suddenly stated that I was transferring from the ISA account I had specified to the Kent Reliance.
Except I was not. The account number they asked for was for a nominated account, like your current bank account, and not an ISA at all, and I was not transferring an ISA, just opening a new one.
So I rang them.
The first person I spoke to got completely confused and insisted that I was transferring an existing ISA into the Kent Reliance <sigh...> despite me repeatedly telling them I was trying to open a new account.
I really should have given up at that point and gone elsewhere, but fool that I am I did not.
I asked to speak to manager and they actually understood the issue, checked the online page and agreed that it was wrong. Not only that they stated that they would raise this with their IT folks to get fixed. OK, so far so good.
This did not however help me opening the account, so the manager suggested I open it by post and then register online once it was. Sounded fair enough so I did so.
The letter confirming the account details took a while to arrive, well over a week, and when it did it only had their internal account number, no sort code and more importantly no external account number to enable me to transfer money into the account. I guess this was due to it being opened by post but it struck me as odd.
Anyway I then tried to register for online access. My idea was to get online access to the Kent Reliance ISA, transfer £1, check it worked and then transfer the rest of the amount I wanted to deposit.
However when I tried to register I ran smack into an ID failure. The registration stated that Kent Reliance did not have enough information to allow me to access my account online and that I had to send a statement from my nominated account.
This is despite me opening the Kent Reliance ISA with a cheque from that nominated account, writing my address on the back of the cheque (as they requested - surely a security risk in any case) and putting those account details on the application form. In short the ID check should not have failed as Kent Reliance had all the information already! :mad:.
Anyway I wrote to them, complaining that the situation was just stupid and enclosed a statement from the nominated account.
I then waited.
Having heard nothing I called Kent Reliance today. I spoke to another manager who told me that the online ID check is handled by a 3rd party company that does not have access to Kent Reliance's systems and thus does not know about any of the accounts that are held by Kent Reliance and thus cannot know if the person applying for online access has an account with Kent Reliance!
Sorry?
This seems to mean that this ID check will always fail since the 3rd party cannot know if you have an account with the Kent Reliance and cannot know its details, or indeed the details of the nominated account. They just don't talk to each other like that. So why on Earth are Kent Reliance using them? :undecided
Obviously I am not going to throw money into the aether so having vented my spleen at the Kent Reliance manager I stated I wanted to close the account, to my mind Kent Reliance cannot administer accounts properly and I would rather go elsewhere.
Except I can't.
Due to the postal delays and other problems I am now outside the 14 day cooling off period and my deposit has been taken as the 1 and only ISA subscription you are allowed per year. Even if I do close the account I cannot now open another ISA!
To say I am cheesed off is an understatement.
So please take this as a warning, if a financial provider causes you any problems when you are trying to open an account or buy a service from them just walk away. I didn't and I am now really regretting not doing so.
Finally if anyone can suggest how I can untangle myself from this situation, I'd really like to hear from you.
My first post here and I come with a sad and frustrating tale.
On 1st May I tried to open a 1 year ISA with the Kent Reliance online. All was going well until I got right to the very end and the terms and conditions suddenly stated that I was transferring from the ISA account I had specified to the Kent Reliance.
Except I was not. The account number they asked for was for a nominated account, like your current bank account, and not an ISA at all, and I was not transferring an ISA, just opening a new one.
So I rang them.
The first person I spoke to got completely confused and insisted that I was transferring an existing ISA into the Kent Reliance <sigh...> despite me repeatedly telling them I was trying to open a new account.
I really should have given up at that point and gone elsewhere, but fool that I am I did not.
I asked to speak to manager and they actually understood the issue, checked the online page and agreed that it was wrong. Not only that they stated that they would raise this with their IT folks to get fixed. OK, so far so good.
This did not however help me opening the account, so the manager suggested I open it by post and then register online once it was. Sounded fair enough so I did so.
The letter confirming the account details took a while to arrive, well over a week, and when it did it only had their internal account number, no sort code and more importantly no external account number to enable me to transfer money into the account. I guess this was due to it being opened by post but it struck me as odd.
Anyway I then tried to register for online access. My idea was to get online access to the Kent Reliance ISA, transfer £1, check it worked and then transfer the rest of the amount I wanted to deposit.
However when I tried to register I ran smack into an ID failure. The registration stated that Kent Reliance did not have enough information to allow me to access my account online and that I had to send a statement from my nominated account.
This is despite me opening the Kent Reliance ISA with a cheque from that nominated account, writing my address on the back of the cheque (as they requested - surely a security risk in any case) and putting those account details on the application form. In short the ID check should not have failed as Kent Reliance had all the information already! :mad:.
Anyway I wrote to them, complaining that the situation was just stupid and enclosed a statement from the nominated account.
I then waited.
Having heard nothing I called Kent Reliance today. I spoke to another manager who told me that the online ID check is handled by a 3rd party company that does not have access to Kent Reliance's systems and thus does not know about any of the accounts that are held by Kent Reliance and thus cannot know if the person applying for online access has an account with Kent Reliance!
Sorry?
This seems to mean that this ID check will always fail since the 3rd party cannot know if you have an account with the Kent Reliance and cannot know its details, or indeed the details of the nominated account. They just don't talk to each other like that. So why on Earth are Kent Reliance using them? :undecided
Obviously I am not going to throw money into the aether so having vented my spleen at the Kent Reliance manager I stated I wanted to close the account, to my mind Kent Reliance cannot administer accounts properly and I would rather go elsewhere.
Except I can't.
Due to the postal delays and other problems I am now outside the 14 day cooling off period and my deposit has been taken as the 1 and only ISA subscription you are allowed per year. Even if I do close the account I cannot now open another ISA!
To say I am cheesed off is an understatement.
So please take this as a warning, if a financial provider causes you any problems when you are trying to open an account or buy a service from them just walk away. I didn't and I am now really regretting not doing so.
Finally if anyone can suggest how I can untangle myself from this situation, I'd really like to hear from you.
Have you ever had problems with the Kent Reliance? Were they similar to mine? 17 votes
Yes very similar
0%
0 votes
Yes but different issues
11%
2 votes
I use them and have had no problems
47%
8 votes
I don't use the Kent Reliance
41%
7 votes
0
Comments
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Could you summarise the issue?0
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Erm, I'll try to summarise.
Tried to open a 1 year Kent Reliance ISA.
At the end of the application the web page stated I was transferring an ISA not opening a new one.
Rang Kent Reliance, spoke to 2 people, one did not understand, one (a manager) did agreed the web was in error and suggested opening the account by post and registering online later.
Opened account by post
After delay got letter confirming account open, but it did no include a sort code or external account number, just a Kent Reliance account number so I could not do an electronic transfer.
Tried to register for online access
Failed an ID check which stated that I needed to provide a statement to show I owned the nominated account. This is despite me opening the Kent Reliance ISA with a cheque from that account, providing its details on the application from and writing my address on the back of the cheque!
Wrote to Kent Reliance, complaining this was stupid and enclosed statement.
Heard nothing.
Rang them. Found out that ID check uses 3rd party that has no access to any Kent Reliance data and so it cannot know if you have a Kent Reliance account or the nominated account details. In short it will always fail.
Asked to close account as I feel they cannot administer their systems properly.
Found out I was outside 14 day cooling off period due to postal and other delays so if I do close the account I cannot open another ISA elsewhere.
Oh just to add to this I was also told I had to wait another 5 days for the log on details allowing me to access my account online to arrive.0 -
Sorry to hear of your woes. An official complaint would sort it out - going through the Ombudsman if absolutely necessary.
Or
Despite being mucked about it looks like you should now have the ISA you originally wanted with the amount in it you wanted to deposit. It's just that frustrating wait until the online access papers arrive before you can see what is actually in there and whether they've got that bit right.
Or
I don't know what the T&Cs are for the ISA you've chosen but, presumably, there is an interest penalty if you choose to transfer out which would probably cause you to lose some capital as its only just been opened, but you could transfer out and have done with it.
If it were me, and I'd truly lost confidence in them, I'd choose the complaint route. That should at least get you back to square one with all your options reopened for you.0 -
Glad money's not too tight to mention....MoneyLooser wrote: ».
0 -
Ive opened multiple accounts with the. With absolutely no problemEx forum ambassador
Long term forum member0 -
i have an account with KR, back from when they were a Building Society. sorry to read that you have been having these problems. are they really offering something appealing enough to bother with? i can't really imagine wanting a Cash ISA in the current climate... can save via Current Accounts or Regular Savers for better rates, and can use an ISA allowance for Stocks & Shares and at least hope to get a real terms return.0
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