Lex’s ISA investments are worth less after delay in selling shares

What happened

Lex wanted to sell some shares in her stocks and shares ISA. She contacted her ISA provider, who told her to put the request in writing to her local branch. She was told the value of her shares on that day.

Later that week, Lex went to her local branch later to submit the request. The branch told her to send it by post. Lex then posted the request, but due to Covid-19 disruptions to postal services, the bank only received it two weeks later.

By this time, the value of the shares was almost £8,000 lower than when Lex had first enquired about selling the shares. She complained to the bank.

In its final response to Lex, the bank upheld her complaint. It agreed to put her in the financial position she’d have been if her letter had been sent the day she went into the branch. It also offered Lex compensation for the distress and inconvenience she’d experienced.

But Lex remained unhappy, as she wanted the bank to honour the original value she was given for the shares. So she brought her complaint to us.

What we said

We looked into whether the resolution offered by the bank was fair.

The bank explained that, for security reasons, it had to receive written confirmation before shares could be sold. It could take three to five working days for a request to be processed. The bank had tried to put Lex in the financial position she would have been in had the shares been sold within three working days of her branch visit.

We understood Lex’s frustration but explained the bank’s position. It couldn’t pay the value of a quote given before processing the shares could begin. We felt the compensation the bank had already offered was a fair reflection of the inconvenience caused by delays under the bank’s control.

However, we felt the complaint might have been prevented. We told the bank that it could have clearly explained earlier why the initial price quoted would differ from the price Lex would get.