Skipton returned entire deposit cos exceeded limit by £1

TimBW · 16 May 2018 at 8:16AM

Hi,
My daughter opened her LISA with £1 last year then mistakenly deposited a further £4000 in March 2018. She was therefore £1 over the maximum deposit per annum. Instead of returning the £1 or messaging her to advise of the error, they simply returned the whole £4000 to her bank account. Therefore she's missed out on the bonus for the last financial year.
Is this correct, according to the small print, or is this unreasonable?
I am minded to complain to Skipton on her behalf, she works shifts so is not able to deal and also is not necessarily sufficiently confident / aware. She spoke with Skipton to give them permission for me to deal on her behalf but was advised that this was not possible since I lived abroad (France, the other side of the moon!) and I did not have Power of Attorney. This seems wrong to me since we could set up security questions for me, give me a Mandate to deal and proceed. Am I wrong?
Thanks for any advice.

HappyHarry · 16 May 2018 at 8:44AM

TimBW wrote: »

Hi,
My daughter opened her LISA with £1 last year then mistakenly deposited a further £4000 in March 2018. She was therefore £1 over the maximum deposit per annum. Instead of returning the £1 or messaging her to advise of the error, they simply returned the whole £4000 to her bank account. Therefore she's missed out on the bonus for the last financial year.
Is this correct, according to the small print, or is this unreasonable?
I am minded to complain to Skipton on her behalf, she works shifts so is not able to deal and also is not necessarily sufficiently confident / aware. She spoke with Skipton to give them permission for me to deal on her behalf but was advised that this was not possible since I lived abroad (France, the other side of the moon!) and I did not have Power of Attorney. This seems wrong to me since we could set up security questions for me, give me a Mandate to deal and proceed. Am I wrong?
Thanks for any advice.

Is this the Online Cash Lifetime LISA? If so, everything is done automatically, and any over-payment will be returned, as per the account terms and conditions:

https://www.skipton.co.uk/~/media/skipton-co-uk/pdf/savings/online-cash-LISA-terms-and-conditions.ashx

3. Savings account limits
3.1. The maximum balance can only be exceeded with any interest and government bonus added to your account.
3.2. Electronic payments which don’t comply with the minimum and maximum limits will be returned to their source
automatically.

As this is an automated process on an on-line account, it seems reasonable that Skipton wouldn't call or message the account holder at all, and would just return the payment.

Alexland · 16 May 2018 at 10:32AM

Sounds like they acted within their terms even if their automated rejection was not helpful.

It's always worth leaving time for unexpected issued to be resolved when making contributions towards the end of the tax year and logging in to check the money arrived safely.

Alex

eskbanker · 16 May 2018 at 10:45AM

TimBW wrote: »

My daughter opened her LISA with £1 last year then mistakenly deposited a further £4000 in March 2018. She was therefore £1 over the maximum deposit per annum. Instead of returning the £1 or messaging her to advise of the error, they simply returned the whole £4000 to her bank account. Therefore she's missed out on the bonus for the last financial year.

What was the exact timing involved here? As Alexland says, leaving adequate time before the fixed deadline to resolve issues is prudent, but if they took their time returning the payment then it could be argued that they've contributed to the situation, so on which date was the failed deposit made and when was it returned?

TimBW wrote: »

I am minded to complain to Skipton on her behalf, she works shifts so is not able to deal and also is not necessarily sufficiently confident / aware. She spoke with Skipton to give them permission for me to deal on her behalf but was advised that this was not possible since I lived abroad (France, the other side of the moon!) and I did not have Power of Attorney. This seems wrong to me since we could set up security questions for me, give me a Mandate to deal and proceed. Am I wrong?

Yes, non-junior ISAs must be opened by adults, who are assumed to be capable of managing accounts themselves unless formal power of attorney is granted to others. Even though she works shifts, she must have some downtime - their phones are answered 8-8 on weekdays and also on Saturday mornings, or there's an online facility, see https://www.skipton.co.uk/contact-us.

Paul_DNAP · 16 May 2018 at 12:07PM

Unfortunately this is absolutely correct, if the transaction would put you over your yearly ISA allowance (either for that account or in total) then they are obliged to reject the transaction completely.
I know what you are saying, she were doing this in branch face to face, you would expect the person there to say "oh no, you can't put £4000 in, you've already got a pound in there, you'd better write me a new cheque for £3999 instead". Instead you have a computer program with the hard rule "If A is bigger than B then say no"
You might be able to appeal to their better side and allow her to back date a payment, but their hands may be tied by little things called laws, but you can try.

Skipton returned entire deposit cos exceeded limit by £1

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