ASK TONY: I was banking on my ISA to buy a house but Skipton closed it

I opened a Lifetime ISA (Lisa) with Skipton on June 27, 2017. I recently tried to pay into it, but discovered Skipton had closed it on September 16 last year. 

I was told that the National Insurance number I had given did not match the one held by HMRC.

Skipton had not contacted me about this by either email or phone call, my preferred contact methods.

It said it had written in February 2018, but this was to an old address. The building society states it allows a 30-day period after such contact before it closes the account. 

But it had allowed me to pay in £4,000 in February 2019.

Skipton admitted to communication errors and offered £50 compensation. It says it cannot reopen the account due to HMRC rules.

But HMRC says it is up to the bank or building society to decide whether to repair or reopen an account.

I want my account reopened so I can access the government bonus I have been acquiring through years of saving to buy my first home.

M. D., Oldham.

A Lisa allows you to save up to £4,000 a year and receive an annual cash bonus of up to £1,000 on top, so long as the money is used towards a deposit for a first home or for retirement.

The closure of yours was a serious blow. In the circumstances, Skipton’s £50 offer was derisory and its response unhelpful.

As HMRC correctly told you, it is up to the bank or building society whether a Lisa is repaired when an error occurs.

However, you are not blameless. If you move home, you need to provide your new address to banks and building societies. 

Skipton says it wrote twice in February 2018 to say your account had not been accepted by HMRC due to the NI number discrepancy.

It also wrote again in July 2019 and sent two emails saying that your account would be closed if you did not update your details within 60 days.

I don’t know what happened to the emails, but perhaps you should check your spam filters.

A cheque was issued to you which was fortunately returned from your old address. At this stage I must question Skipton’s security. If the building society had been writing to you for nearly 18 months with no reply, it should have hesitated before sending a large cheque to this address.

Skipton has reinstated your account because it agrees it should have pointed out the problem when you paid in your cheque in February 2019.

You have accepted the £50 compensation and your details have been updated.

Finally, Skipton has made a plea, which I echo wholeheartedly: If you move home, please tell your bank, building society, pension company, investment firms and anyone else with whom you have financial dealings.

My mother died in July 2018 leaving 1,050 Portmeirion Group shares. I asked for these to be transferred into my name. Her estate was settled in July 2019.

Despite receiving dividends, I have yet to receive the share certificate. Link Market Services told my solicitor it had posted the certificate on January 23, but my solicitor did not receive it.

Link said the only way forward was to pay a £47 indemnity fee. I contacted Link and was presented with a fee of £337, which I paid as I wanted closure. Surely I should not have had to pay this?

N. P., Cheshire.

Link, a firm handling the administration of shares, says your solicitor made contact in January last year and the share certificate was processed and sent to them on January 23, 2019.

If a share certificate is lost and the value of shares exceeds £125.01, then additional indemnity cover is required.

Your shares were worth just over £8,000, so Link offered to provide the cover for £290. 

There is an administration fee of £47 to cover this process and the issuing of a new certificate, making a total fee of £337.

Your solicitor issued a formal complaint on October 24 saying they were unhappy with the indemnity fee. 

Link then said you could look at alternative options provided by a suitably authorised bank or insurance company.

Link says it appreciates the disappointment this episode must have caused at a distressing time for your family. It has sent you a £200 cheque as a goodwill gesture.

I am on a two-year fixed-price deal with Together Energy which began in August 2018.

I have never had a statement from the firm, although I have telephoned with meter readings on eight occasions.

Together Energy wrote to me in September 2019 saying I was £43 in credit but it was increasing my monthly payment from £111 to £137.

I phoned to say it should not take extra money from my account but it did so anyway.

M. A., Staffordshire.

Together Energy issued a statement saying it did not have correct meter readings and therefore its billing system was generating over-estimated bills.

This led to the computer-generated request for the increase in direct debit.

Together Energy says it has now corrected your account and amended your direct debit. 

Of course, you would have been able to see what was wrong if it had bothered to send a statement.

• Write to Tony Hazell at Ask Tony, Money Mail, Northcliffe House, 2 Derry Street, London W8 5TT or email [email protected] — please include your daytime phone number, postal address and a separate note addressed to the offending organisation giving them permission to talk to Tony Hazell. We regret we cannot reply to individual letters. Please do not send original documents as we cannot take responsibility for them. No legal responsibility can be accepted by the Daily Mail for answers given.