tubaman
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Post by tubaman on Aug 30, 2017 15:37:58 GMT
Has anyone here ever managed to close an FC account?
I've tried a few times over the past couple of years, unsuccessfully, to instruct FC to close my lending account, but they refuse because the terms and conditions say that an account can only be closed if there are no outstanding loan parts. However, given that it is inevitable that there will be some bad debt, this means that any account which has any bad debt cannot ever be closed, unless all bad debt is totally recovered which is effectively impossible. FC have confirmed to me this is the case, but refuse to do anything about it. I've told them I am more than happy for them to keep or donate to charity any future recoveries on outstanding loan parts to enable me to close the account, or for the loan parts to just be given to another user, but again they refuse.
I have tried to convince them that this is an unfair condition, as not being able to terminate a contract does not seem lawful, although I am certainly no expert. They have suggested just letting the account sit there dormant, but this is not acceptable to my accountant as any debt recoveries need to be accoutned for on the tax return so just keeping the account open forces me to incur extra time/costs for me/my accountant to try and reconcile the account (not made easy by the fact the lame transaction statements cannot provide a balance on a given date, and the sum of transactions never seems to exactly reconcile with the stated balance when I log in).
If anyone has any ideas how to encourage FC to let me close an account that would be much appreciated.
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archie
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Post by archie on Aug 30, 2017 15:49:59 GMT
I think a lot of us would like to be able to donate the remnants of a P2P account to charity.
This is one area where the FCA might be useful. I doubt it but maybe worth a try.
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Post by transo on Aug 30, 2017 16:21:19 GMT
Looking at the FCA's client money rules I think FC might be right on this one. It looks like the rules allow them to pay the money over to charity if (i) it's a minimal (<£25) amount or (ii) they just can't track you down after lots of trying, but in any case only after "six years following the last movement on the client's account", which I think recoveries etc. would count as.
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Post by GSV3MIaC on Aug 30, 2017 16:22:19 GMT
Yes, that is a recurring request .. either allow SM sellout of defaulted/damaged parts at HUGE discount (100% discount would be fine by me), or transfer to some (un)lucky charity. Of course this is not just a P2P issue .. I am still getting paperwork (and 3p cheques) from some dodgy ZDP shares from ~8-10 years ago .. company administrators and accountants work even slower than P2P recovery teams it seems.
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fasty
Member of DD Central
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Post by fasty on Aug 30, 2017 16:25:18 GMT
Hotel California, again !
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rogerthat
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Post by rogerthat on Aug 30, 2017 19:08:07 GMT
Has anyone here ever managed to close an FC account? If anyone has any ideas how to encourage FC to let me close an account that would be much appreciated. 1. Change your name by deed poll ? 2. Change your gender ? 
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kuznec
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Post by kuznec on Aug 30, 2017 19:27:57 GMT
Write a complaint to the supervisory authority, I think that there are interested in such terms of the contract.
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Post by tredod on Aug 30, 2017 20:22:45 GMT
Small shareholdings can be disposed of via Sharegift www.sharegift.org/It would be nice if there was a similar organisation that could receive remnant P2P accounts. |
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Stonk
Stonking
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Post by Stonk on Aug 31, 2017 17:22:52 GMT
If anyone has any ideas how to encourage FC to let me close an account that would be much appreciated. Die.
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Post by GSV3MIaC on Aug 31, 2017 19:01:27 GMT
Nope, 'die' just makes it your executor's problem, it doesn't close a P2P account.
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ceejay
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Post by ceejay on Aug 31, 2017 19:24:31 GMT
Nope, 'die' just makes it your executor's problem, it doesn't close a P2P account. Now that is the scariest thought I've seen here for a while. Seriously, as a potential executor, the thought of having to deal with a long trail of asset recovery that could drag on for years... ugh. Maybe anyone over the age of 60 should be banned from holding any P2P?
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Post by william0101 on Aug 31, 2017 19:34:09 GMT
it isn't the trail per se that is worrying, it is the fact you might be doing the work for less than GBP1 per month for (say) 5 years. *that* is scary Back to what the OP asked, I don't think their accounting person is earning their money well if they spend a lot of time going over (relatively) small amounts. If the OP's FC tail income is an insignificant proportion of their tax return then just use start / end year figures, HMRC are unlikely to be bothered NOTE: I am not giving tax advice, that is specialist, I am saying don't get too worried about recording the GBP6.78 you got from your FC loan tail if you've got other income  |
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stub8535
Member of DD Central
personal opinions only. Not qualified to advise on investment products.
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Post by stub8535 on Aug 31, 2017 19:54:28 GMT
Nope, 'die' just makes it your executor's problem, it doesn't close a P2P account. Now that is the scariest thought I've seen here for a while. Seriously, as a potential executor, the thought of having to deal with a long trail of asset recovery that could drag on for years... ugh. Maybe anyone over the age of 60 should be banned from holding any P2P? Also, if its similar to shares, the intermediaries charges would outweigh the recoveries. I had a company that wanted to charge me £75 in fees to dispose of £40 of shares on the death of a close relative. It also raises questions in the frequency of communications to account holders in p2p to ensure that people realise they have an account. Useful when someone takes over the financial affairs of an individual under a power of attorney where mental capacity has diminished. It could be a larger issue that needs a solution dictated by the FCA not just for p2p but all account based transactions. With electronic accounts now prevailing the probability of something being overlooked or lost is much greater than when things were dine by post. Indeed, I could see certain organisations making no concerted attempt to contact estates to check that the accounts are known about. Maybe a feedback loop from hmrc,who are recieving inputs from platforms periodically now, using NI number could be available yearly to enable people to realise that an account exists and then deal with it. S
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maxmarengo
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Post by maxmarengo on Sept 1, 2017 6:54:16 GMT
I like the idea of being able to donate defaulted or downgraded loans to charity. I've only got a couple of loans that are likely to pay back anything substantial, then after that potentially 5 years of a few pounds a month (at best). FC could set up a charitable trust to hold the parts which would donate any money recieved at the end of each year. You could be given the option to select from a list of 10 charities at assigment and that would be used to guide the donations: - Would not be too expensive to set up or run
- Would make FC look good
- Would allow people to clean up their affairs
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Stonk
Stonking
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Post by Stonk on Sept 1, 2017 10:58:44 GMT
Nope, 'die' just makes it your executor's problem, it doesn't close a P2P account. True. OK, how about breaching FC's Terms & Conditions, and seeing if they carry out their threat to close your account. Probably the easiest one is to tell them your UK bank account is closed (even if it isn't), and refuse to update it. This breaches 1.1(g) and 1.8, for which 13.5(a) threatens closure. This is not entirely in jest. If your relationship with FC is at a permanent end, then why not?
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