Virgin Money has been told to pay out compensation to a client after a mishandled Isa transfer caused her “immense anxiety and stress”.
The client, known as Miss S, first made the request to transfer her cash Isa with Virgin Money to a stocks and shares Isa elsewhere in May 2022, but it did not go through until October.
This is despite HMRC guidance saying transferring a cash Isa shouldn’t take longer than 15 working days.
Between May and August, the complainant was trying to transfer the cash to another business, however in September wrote to Virgin Money requesting it was transferred to another financial services provider due to the delays she had already experienced.
Over the five months, Miss S was in touch with Virgin Money 12 times.
Following an initial complaint to the firm, Virgin Money agreed to pay the woman £200 compensation for the “distress and inconvenience”.
It admitted she’d had problems contacting the company to find out what was happening with the transfer and had experienced unacceptable call wait times.
However, Miss S was unhappy with this response and took her case to the Financial Ombudsman Service, which published its decision in September.
The Fos decision explained: “She said Virgin Money was responsible for mishandling the transfer requests resulting in delays which caused her immense anxiety and stress.”
It took Virgin Money almost a month to complete the transfer to the second company requested by Miss S, between September and October.
The ombudsman, Susan Webb, found that the firm “could and should” have made it clear when it rejected the initial transfer on September 14 that it had specific wording requirements, adding “I consider its failure to do this was unfair”.
The complaint was upheld by Webb and Virgin Money was told to provide redress to make up what Miss S would have received in dividends for the £9,649 she invested, if it was invested on the day she wanted.
It was also told to pay out £250 in compensation.
Webb said: “I don’t doubt that VM’s poor handling of matters, as described above, caused Miss S significant distress and inconvenience.”
Virgin Money was contacted for comment.
tara.o'connor@ft.com
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