Post by winger on Mar 14, 2017 13:47:25 GMT
Some people on these forums have been wondering how well-equipped the p2p platforms are to deal with the death of an investor - particularly how easy it will be to liquidate assets. I now have an experience to share on that issue. Although it discusses BC in particular, I thought it seemed to be a subject of general interest so I have placed it on this board - I hope that is OK.
My mum sadly passed away just before Christmas, not long after I had started investing in a few p2p platforms for her. Most of them have SM's and downloadable online Tax Statements, so things went fairly smoothly there in my goal to liquidate her assets and get reliable accounts.
Sadly, BridgeCrowd had no SM at that time, so I just had to wait for the promised one to become available. It arrived later than planned, in mid-Feb, but I was then able to quickly sell off her one BC loan part.
I asked if I could then withdraw her funds, and BC said they were sending them to the bank account I had designated. As it still hadn't arrived after a few days, I sent a reminder. BC then told me they had changed their minds and had decided they couldn't actually release the funds to me. They said the money had to go to mum's bank account, either right away or after Probate. I told them this was impossible, as the banks freeze an account after death and then close it as soon as Probate is complete (after releasing funds to the executor).
For those who don't know, completing Probate can be a very lengthy process, but I had already embarked on it and I managed to get it done remarkably quickly (thanks to mum's fairly simple affairs). So I duly sent BC a copy of the Grant of Probate, confirming me as Executor, and they then released mum's funds to my 'estate account' [other platforms did the same, by the way, or in some cases releasing the funds to me even before Probate].
The final piece of the puzzle I need in order to complete mum's dealings with HMRC is to get Tax Statements so that I can file her Tax Returns. I hadn't realised, but this has to be 2 separate Tax Returns - one covering the Tax Year up to the date of death and another covering the period post-death.
All other p2p sites seem to have an option for you to download Tax Statements from your online account, but BC doesn't. So I asked BC to email them to me, and I specified precisely what I needed:
(1) 6-Apr-16 to 13-Dec-16 (i.e. Tax Year up to date of death)
(2) 14-Dec-16 to 2-Mar-17 (i.e. after date of death until account closure)
These are the contents of the 2 Tax Statements they sent me:
1. Filename "J_Mackintosh 16-04-16 - 13-12-16.pdf" contains:
Tax Period: 16/04/16 - 13/12/16
Date: 15/12/16
Amount: £50
2. Filename "J_Mackintosh 14-06-16-14-12-16.pdf" contains:
Tax Period: 14/06/16-14/12/16
Date: 15/12/16
Amount: £50
I have listed for them the SEVERE problems with these documents, as follows:
1. The Tax Periods don't match what I asked for.
2. Most of the Tax Period dates they have chosen seem totally arbitrary, not matching the normal tax year, or the date mum joined BC, or the date of her death, or the date her account was closed.
3. The dates shown for the payments are OUTSIDE the stated Tax Period.
4. The amounts don't match the interest payments shown on the online transaction list in mum's account.... and don't match their dates.
Sadly, BC don't seem concerned that what they've sent me makes no sense - I asked for an explanation, but they have ceased all communication with me!
The bottom line seems to be that people are wise to worry about how some of these new financial platforms might handle bereavements!
Meanwhile, would someone please tell me this: do the above figures show that MY accounting knowledge is severely lacking - or is it BridgeCrowd's?!
My mum sadly passed away just before Christmas, not long after I had started investing in a few p2p platforms for her. Most of them have SM's and downloadable online Tax Statements, so things went fairly smoothly there in my goal to liquidate her assets and get reliable accounts.
Sadly, BridgeCrowd had no SM at that time, so I just had to wait for the promised one to become available. It arrived later than planned, in mid-Feb, but I was then able to quickly sell off her one BC loan part.
I asked if I could then withdraw her funds, and BC said they were sending them to the bank account I had designated. As it still hadn't arrived after a few days, I sent a reminder. BC then told me they had changed their minds and had decided they couldn't actually release the funds to me. They said the money had to go to mum's bank account, either right away or after Probate. I told them this was impossible, as the banks freeze an account after death and then close it as soon as Probate is complete (after releasing funds to the executor).
For those who don't know, completing Probate can be a very lengthy process, but I had already embarked on it and I managed to get it done remarkably quickly (thanks to mum's fairly simple affairs). So I duly sent BC a copy of the Grant of Probate, confirming me as Executor, and they then released mum's funds to my 'estate account' [other platforms did the same, by the way, or in some cases releasing the funds to me even before Probate].
The final piece of the puzzle I need in order to complete mum's dealings with HMRC is to get Tax Statements so that I can file her Tax Returns. I hadn't realised, but this has to be 2 separate Tax Returns - one covering the Tax Year up to the date of death and another covering the period post-death.
All other p2p sites seem to have an option for you to download Tax Statements from your online account, but BC doesn't. So I asked BC to email them to me, and I specified precisely what I needed:
(1) 6-Apr-16 to 13-Dec-16 (i.e. Tax Year up to date of death)
(2) 14-Dec-16 to 2-Mar-17 (i.e. after date of death until account closure)
These are the contents of the 2 Tax Statements they sent me:
1. Filename "J_Mackintosh 16-04-16 - 13-12-16.pdf" contains:
Tax Period: 16/04/16 - 13/12/16
Date: 15/12/16
Amount: £50
2. Filename "J_Mackintosh 14-06-16-14-12-16.pdf" contains:
Tax Period: 14/06/16-14/12/16
Date: 15/12/16
Amount: £50
I have listed for them the SEVERE problems with these documents, as follows:
1. The Tax Periods don't match what I asked for.
2. Most of the Tax Period dates they have chosen seem totally arbitrary, not matching the normal tax year, or the date mum joined BC, or the date of her death, or the date her account was closed.
3. The dates shown for the payments are OUTSIDE the stated Tax Period.
4. The amounts don't match the interest payments shown on the online transaction list in mum's account.... and don't match their dates.
Sadly, BC don't seem concerned that what they've sent me makes no sense - I asked for an explanation, but they have ceased all communication with me!
The bottom line seems to be that people are wise to worry about how some of these new financial platforms might handle bereavements!
Meanwhile, would someone please tell me this: do the above figures show that MY accounting knowledge is severely lacking - or is it BridgeCrowd's?!
