Can I transfer my Isa? TSB computer says no
Probes a world of scams and scandals
I.B. writes: I do not know where else to turn. I have a £97,000 cash Isa with TSB and because of the poor interest rate I applied to transfer £85,000 to Ford Money. TSB rejected the application on the grounds of ‘insufficient funds’. I subsequently made five new transfer applications to Ford, all rejected by TSB, which gave its reason as ‘status transfer error’. I then tried a switch to Charter Savings, again for a better yield, but TSB still rejected this. I have complained online, by phone and at my TSB branch, but nobody will say anything, and my £97,000 is stuck in a TSB account paying a paltry 0.02 per cent interest. YOU have been stuck for months in what could be a sketch straight out of an episode of Little Britain. Whatever you asked TSB to do, back came the answer: ‘Computer says no.’
The human beings involved seemed unable to spot that if you had £97,000 in your Isa, it made no sense to tell you there was not enough to cover an £85,000 transfer. ‘Status transfer error’ is just meaningless.
A ledger, a quill-pen and an abacus would have done a better job than TSB’s computer.
Human intervention seemed impossible. When you complained, TSB told you that ‘our recent systems upgrade has meant we have seen a large number of complaints’. The bank was ‘working round the clock’ to put things right. But more than two months later, Charter Savings told you that TSB had blocked your request for a switch to its Isa ‘due to an active transfer request you have with Ford Money’ – the transfer request that TSB itself had already turned down because it said you had insufficient funds.
I asked TSB to look into this, and less than 48 hours later you received a telephone call.
You told me: ‘After 91 days of inaction and being ignored, not only did my Isa transfer take place, but they are now falling over themselves to compensate me.’
When you told the caller that you had contacted me, he said he was aware of this, but it was just a coincidence that things were now suddenly moving.
The bank has admitted to me that your Isa transfer was rejected due to a computer error. It said: ‘We are really sorry to hear what happened to Mr B. We have been in touch with him to apologise and put things right, and we have ensured he has not been left out of pocket.’
Your Isa has been transferred to Charter Savings, along with an extra £277 in interest that your money should have been earning, and TSB has awarded you compensation totalling £902 to cover the inconvenience and the time that it has taken to put things right.