Mystery of the lost £80,000 in shares held by Santander
I’M A financial adviser, whose clients — a retired couple — have suffered extremely poor service from Santander.
In early 2016, the wife held about £160,000 of shares in a Santander unit trust. In order to make use of her husband’s unused capital gains tax allowance, she planned to transfer about half of her holding to him.
Santander reduced her holding but failed to complete the transfer, meaning about £80,000 of savings went missing.
I have called weekly since April but Santander refused to correct the mistake immediately. It blamed a systems error and was unable to provide a timescale for resolution. I felt its treatment of my clients was inhumane.
At the end of May, we were told the systems issue had been fixed and that the missing £80,000 would be transferred into a new investment account in the husband’s name.
We were also promised a letter of apology and an offer of compensation. So far we have had neither. D. V., by email. I am regularly baffled by the insensitivity of people who work in banks. How can they fail to realise that their decisions and actions can have an immense impact on their customers’ lives?
The £80,000 going missing might have been a trivial ‘systems error’ to staff, but it was a terrifying experience for pensioners who probably wondered if they would ever see their money again.
I think it goes without saying that they would have suffered sleepless nights thanks to the dozy behaviour of Santander’s investment department.
Santander had a duty to keep both you and your clients informed and to rectify the situation as a matter of urgency. a fulsome apology and appropriate compensation should have followed.
Santander now admits there was a series of silly errors that was compounded because nobody took responsibility for resolving the problem. The word ‘manana’ seems to fit the approach.
Finally, someone from the bank has written to apologise. They admit the time taken to fix the issue was ‘longer than the time we would consider reasonable’.
They have also apologised for failing to keep you and your clients informed — with the consequence that you had to spend significant time and effort trying to gather updates.
The good news is that your clients’ financial position is now correct, as far as the investments are concerned, and they have not suffered any loss here.
However, Santander’s mistakes have landed your clients with an unwelcome tax bill. So it’s promised to make good any extra tax your clients have had to pay and added £500 compensation.
It has also promised to reimburse your clients for any costs you have incurred and charged to them.
It’s been a long struggle, but I hope things are now sorted out to your and your clients’ satisfaction. I AM disabled and have great difficulty walking. I took a friend, aged 82, who can walk only with the aid of two crutches, to Swindon. One car park was closed for works, so we had to use another where the disabled area is on the third floor.
Neither lift was working. We drove to the ground floor believing there must be some disabled parking there, but the only bays had yellow hatching across them. We parked there as there was no alternative and displayed our blue badge. We also paid the £2 fee.
Just after Christmas I received a letter saying we had to pay a £35 penalty fee. I tried to appeal and later sent a cheque on January 10. This was cashed on February 8.
I had no further correspondence until July 21, when an officer called to demand a total of £422, less the £35 already paid.
I had to pay or they would take away the vehicle. Mrs B. J., Oxfordshire. WEll, this has spun completely out of control, hasn’t it? So what does Swindon Borough Council have to say for itself?
It seems there were some complications because your son is the registered keeper of the vehicle, so letters were sent to him.
First, both you and the council agree that you were parked in a bay that said ‘restricted area’. The council says the ticket was therefore correctly issued.
apparently, the penalty charge was issued on December 4, but because no one replied within the 14-day period allowed, you missed the 50pc discount, so the charge then doubled from £35 to £70.
Swindon Council says it responded to your appeal on January 4, saying it came too late, but you did not get back to pay the fines until February 1.
Two letters were then sent to your son as the registered keeper.
You tell me in your letter that you have authorisation to open his letters as he is abroad, but the council says you failed to respond.
Hence the whole situation spiralled out of control. So where does this leave us?
First, I don’t feel the council has adequately addressed your point that the lift was out of order. This is clearly beyond the pale given that disabled parking is on the third floor.
The council says the car park is linked to a Debenhams store on this floor, which does have a lift, though there is no reason for you to have been aware of this. However, it also says that you did not explain the full circumstances when you originally wrote.
On the basis that you may not have received the letters sent to your son, the council has now agreed that you can submit a Statutory Declaration to the Traffic Enforcement Centre, which will send you the relevant forms to make formal representations and challenge the fine.
I have provided you with the information on how to do this in a personal letter.