Prof

Self-employed, but closer to self-unemployed at the moment. Not much work at the moment, so I spend a fair amount of time studying. If I hadn`t saved and took on a larger mortgage, I`d be in deep do-do. Or would I ? I`ve never known anything like this in my working life. The odd thing is that I`m in a trade where I would have thought that demand would be high at the moment.

Well it`s good news and some Just phoned up new ISA provider to see if cheque has landed. "Yes, it was applied to your account on 1st June". What ????????? I made a few slightly "forceful" phone calls to them last week, and they told me it hadn`t arrived. They`d even written to my old provider to find out what was going on. I was just told that sometimes it takes a few days for it to get through the system, but at no point last week did they tell me this. Left hand, right hand, what the other one is doing, they don`t know. I almost feel like I owe an apology to the old provider. Mmmmm, things might be interesing (no pun intended) when I transfer next year.

Just like their TV ads ? (See above).

Denial won`t make the problem go away, the ad exists, so deal with it !

A common theme, when I`ve had a chat about politics with people recently, is "the Conservatives are bad news, they`ll just look after themselves and the rich". And everything will be fine under Labour, will it ?. Now let`s see, HOW much is the national debt ?

I had to reply to this comment........ "financescience 11 Jun 2010, 1:03PM Everyone's comments are a little black and white for my liking. I saved very VERY hard for a number of years to get a house deposit and when the prices fell last year I managed to scrape an interest only mortgage with both my parents having to guarantee me with their pittiful pensions. I have a lodger and can just about pay off the interest. So its not just the "rich" who will get screwed from this pricing drop, its those who have just about managed to step onto that ladder by saving like mad. Perhaps if we all stopped buying cars, beer, clothes, holidays and ipods then a house deposit would be closer than you think. " In other words - "I waited for prices to fall, and had to sell a couple of vital organs to get on the "ladder". Although a fall in prices enabled me to grab onto the bottom rung by my fingernails, I don`t want prices to fall again. If anyone else wants to "buy" a house, then they ought to stop complaining, and give up everything, apart from bread and water." What an idiot.

Progress. I couldn`t help but give both banks another call. The cheque has been "lost" for 8 days, yet both banks don`t seem too concerned. The sending bank assure me they`ve posted it. The receiving bank assure me it hasn`t arrived. Forgetting the loss of interest (and how that benefits the banks, but not me), it`s very poor service when it`s obvious something has gone wrong, yet neither party seem too bothered - "just wait a few more days". Anyway, I called the sending bank again, and they are cancelling the cheque today, and posting a replacement, registered delivery. I`ve been told that it should be with the new provider Monday/Tuesday. I should now feel confident that it will actually happen, but I have a funny feeling about this. Whoever I speak to about this, be it friends/family or the banks themselves, the one thing that is always mentioned is electronic funds transfer. It if beyond belief that this hasn`t been introduced. I hear the excuse from the banks that "it`s something to do with the tax system". If that is true, it`s pathetic this is the case. I know the Inland Revenue have facilities for funds transfer, because they happily accept my PAYE and Tax payments via the interweb. I`m pretty sure the IR don`t actually have to hold the ISA transfer funds, I assume they have to verify the tax status of the holder, and check that the amount being transfered is within the rules. This process is likely to be possible using computers, rather than paperwork, I would expect. I would also expect that if the banks were to transfer ISA funds electronically, it would be possible (if required) to provide evidence of this transaction to the IR. Given that this story of lost ISA cheques is familiar to me (2 people I know have had the same thing happen), either the banks are lying about the lost cheques (in most cases), or the banks should have acted by now to prevent this from happening. I`ll report back next week.

Seems about right. The only thing is that with an ISA, you are sure what you will get in interest (if it`s fixed), whereas inflation is a little harder to predict (and can be manipulated, to a certain degree). There again, you can`t really be sure what you`ll get on an ISA, as you can`t tell how much interest you`ll lose when they "misplace" your funds during a transfer. And you do have to transfer if you want to keep your rate of return at a decent level. I`m still quite angry that both of my providers are unsure of where the cheque is, yet neither is doing anything about it. If I sent a cheque in the post, or was waiting for one, and it took any longer than 3 or 4 days, I`d assume it was lost and get another issued. These blighters are just telling me to wait a little longer.

I`m seriously considering closing my ISAs and just sticking them into NS&I Index linked certificates, or even normal savings accounts. The slight "edge" I get with the tax fee return on cash ISAs is negated by the cheques that seem to get lost in the post. I feel like calling my old provider again, but I know I`ll get nowhere, and it`ll just increase my blood pressure. Better to wait a few more days to see if the cheque turns up with the new provider. I have a feeling I`m going to be on the phone to both of them again on Monday.

The amount I`m losing is noticeable, as I have been a good boy and saved for my future (or for when I`m short of work, like now). Pehaps I deserve to be treated like this, as I haven`t racked up a large debt (if I did have a large debt, I`m sure the bank wouldn`t mind a late payment caused by the cheque being in the post). This makes me very angry, not just because of the loss of interest, it`s the lying that is taking place. I`m sure I`m being lied to. And we`re not alone. A quick gander at M.Lewis`s forums reveals many others (some of which are reporting similar problems with my old provider) are having cheques going missing. For the first time in my life, I think i`m going to contact my local MP. It would be bad enough if there was a genuine issue with the ISA transfer process - ie a real delay caused by real red tape, but this looks like it`s simply a con.

Is the money really nowhere, or is it still in the hands of the organisation who issued it, ie. my old provider ?

Ah, I`m not alone. This is a scam. We all know that investment banking has come in for a lot of stick recently. The thing about what`s happening here is that this is a blatant rip-off of the retail customer. At a time when rates for savers is so low, it`s just rubbing salt into the wound. My new provider has assured me that I`ll start earning interest from the day they receive the cheque, but they say they haven`t yet received it. The previous provider told me that it can take 30 days to complete a transfer. My reply to that was "I accept that, but you`re telling me that you sent the cheque over a week ago, and my new provider hasn`t yet got it. Where`s the cheque ?". I also had the excuse that ISA transfers are more complex than normal transfers, as the Inland Revenue are involved. Does that explain where the cheque is ? Does the cheque have to be sent to the IR, then they send it on to the new provider ? I don`t think so. How long have ISAs been available ? Can the banks transfer funds electronically ? Do cheques really get lost in the post ? Or are the banks a load of thieving, lying ****ers ? Answers on a postcard please. No, better type you answers here, things get lost in the post. BTW. I can`t remember the last time I knew of anything that I sent via post going missing, nor anything I was supposed to receive. And It would be quite a big coincidence that my mum`s ISA cheque also seemed to vanish a couple of years ago.

Is this just me ? A couple of years ago, it took my mum about 4 months to get an ISA Transfer completed (I won`t go into that now). I applied mid May to transfer from A to B. A closed my online account around 25th May. I checked with both providers last week on the situation. B had not received the cheque. A told me they had sent the cheque (1st class). Just got a letter from B, telling me that they have still not had any response from A. Phoned A, they confirmed the cheque was sent at the end of May, but B have got a backlog. Phoned B, they told me they didn`t really have a backlog, and that no cheque has arrived, I have to call back in a few days. I`ll allow 2 days for a 1st class letter to arrive. I`ll allow the recipient a day or two to open the letter. Why has it taken 10 days for the cheque not to arrive ? I think I know the answer to my own question, and I told A&B exactly my thoughts on the subject. They both tried to give me valid reasons, but I just made their "reasons" sound like excuses. I was told to allow 30 days for the process to complete. I said I would, but given that a cheque had "vanished", I wanted an explanation. Is anyone else experiencing this sort of thing ?

That would have only added a poultry amount to the value of the property. (That was bad, even by my standards. I do apologise).

They have spent money on the place. I mean, a Zoo in the back garden ? That`s gotta be worth at least £1/2mill.

Something to do with higher deposits being required ? Lenders being slightly more careful who they dish the dosh to ? A general reduction in confidence in the property market ? What you have stated is a bit like saying "well, there are still plenty of guns and bullets being made, but there have been less shootings". I would say for sure (and it`s only a gut feeling) that if IO mortgages had not been available, then property prices would not have risen by as much as they have. Further to this, if liar loans (self cert) mortgages weren`t available, then prices would have been held back quite a bit.

Come on Dave, you can do it. And when you`ve done it, wait until house prices fall by 30%+, then introduce house prices back into the equation for setting interest rates. Blimey, could it be that we are starting to see some sensible decisions being made by the people in power ?

Sounded like it.

No, but I want to marry her (the one that texted, not Allslop).

I`m not sure, but he`s talking a bit of sense, IMO. "People on £10k can`t even afford 1 property, let alone a second" "We`re just trying to make things a bit fairer"

If they do read it out, it`ll be obvious it`s from a HPC`er !

Agreed. I`ve sent an email, doubt it`ll get read out though.

I think they already have one, it`s called prison, I think.

Absolutely. I have posted a comment to the article. That bloke who bought the holiday home in Cornawall is just a selfish, greedy **** who doesn`t give a **** about anyone else. Sorry about the language, but this really get me angry. He admits that he took a "gamble" buying a second home, and now is bleating because the game might not pay off as much as he thought. I expect he gave no thought to the locals in the area who might once have been able to afford a property like he bought, simply to live in. He would have nothing to camplain about if he had simply sold up his property "in the city" and moved to Cornwall to live and serve the local community. But no, he wanted the best of both worlds. I bet the Cornish population just love all these wealthy city types coming in and buying up their homes.