Hi, sorry to break this out to a new topic but I have had the following issue when trying to upgrade to Plus/ Premium for a few weeks:
“Sorry, but we can’t let you upgrade your Monzo account right now.”
I checked the forum to see anyone else had this problem but I couldn’t find any previous posts. Apologies if it has been mentioned before.
The in app self help advised I check:
I have enough funds to pay the fee (all good).
I’m sadly very much over 18.
I’m on Android 10, with the latest version of the app (including a reinstall).
No gambling.
No crypto purchases.
I contacted support to see but they could only give me a broad answer simply stating they could not give me Plus/ Premium and they were sorry for the inconvenience. The agent who responded to me was from the Plus/ Premium team so I imagine they have a solid understanding of any internal requirements.
There are a couple issues that I’m purely guessing could cause it:
I have been a user since the beta days moving to the current account in 2017, however I have not used my account for my salary and I have very low card usage.
I have potentially a data issue with Transunion. (This is a guess, as I can view my Experian and Equifax files but I am unable to see my Transunion file through any provider)
I have a 3 year inconsistency notice on National Hunter for opening too many accounts in a short period (2 x current accounts and 4 savings accounts, with 2 x providers around September 2019, Lloyds and First Direct)
I know the forum can’t provide any specifics on Monzos internal decision making but I was hoping to see if anyone else had the issue and if they found out the route cause.
Do my guesses seem logical or do you think theres potentially another reason Monzo wouldn’t want me to upgrade?
(As a btw, I have no grievance, I understand this is the banks discretion. I’m genuinely just trying to figure it out)
Oh that makes slightly more sense. Some mainland UK based banking products aren’t available in NI. Thats more to do with different gambling laws though. I wonder if this problem is do with the insurance products bundled with Premium thats the underlaying factor.
Oh yeah sorry, I work in FasterPayment fraud so I tend to see things from even the silliest risk perspective. I added those last two as possibilities. The error even happened when only Plus was available.
I think you are correct with regards to Insurance Premium Tax (IPT) and that is why the upgrade is not available to me as I am an Isle of Man resident. IPT charged at 20% by the UK Government on insurance products such as phone, motor and travel insurance. Isle of Man residents are exempted from the tax as it is a UK tax but there is the hassle of re-claiming it and I guess Monzo thinks it is not worth all the hassle because of the small population here. Interestingly Apple don’t let you take out Apple Care insurance here either, so even the the biggest of all Companies don’t want to be bothered.
I reached out to support again and asked if the issue is something specific to myself or a broader policy issue, such as my address. They advised me they couldn’t give a reason and that they may be able to offer Plus/ Premium in the future. This indicates to me that its specific to me and my ‘conduct’ sort of speak.
I still have my overdraft available so it doesn’t seem to be a credit risk issue. I’m going to submit a SIRA SAR. Something is off I can’t shake the feeling I’m out of the loop on something not viewable on my credit file.
So far my best guess is that the Nhunter notice is a problem for the insurance component of the upgrade.
I’ll update the thread if I figure it out. Thank you all for your input so far.