After realising that I had to call up Virgin Money to close my account, I decided to reopen my Monzo account (which was incredibly easy and quick. Well done Monzo!) to use to Current Account Switch Service to close my Virgin Money M Plus account. However, I was confused what would happen with the connect M Plus Saver.
I contacted them twice yesterday to ask them what would happen to my M Plus Saver account in this situation. Both times, they said I had to call them up to close it.
However, this isn’t what their T&Cs say. Their T&Cs state:
“These Terms apply until your accounts are closed. If your M Plus Account is closed, we’ll close your M Plus Saver at the same time. Or we’ll move the money to a similar savings account.”
This morning, I asked them again but made a clear reference to their T&Cs. It now seems that I don’t have to call them up anymore. In fact, the account will be closed as long as it has no money in it.
This is poor. Firstly, I don’t actually know what is correct. Are their T&Cs correct or will I end up with a savings account I don’t want. If their T&Cs are correct, why did it take me to point out their T&Cs for them to give me correct information?
I think this sums up my experience with Virgin Money. Everything works well unless you need to do something even slightly complicated. I do think they need to sort out their systems because, despite their modern branding, they do struggle with some simple tasks.
The T&Cs also say that they could move the money into a different savings account. Is that what they’ve actually done in the cases mentioned here? Or have they really closed the main account and left the linked savings account open (which you wouldn’t have thought would be possible)?
It is a lot easier to just type in the live chat which has next to no wait time than sit on the phone for however long that will take and then answer however many questions they want me to answer before they close the savings account.
It might be a lot easier, but if you have to call, because they’re telling you that you have to call, then asking the same question will only result in extra confusion and it taking longer to actually close the account.
Let us know if VM accepts your instructions by message.
I have tried calling. Even the whole number directory thing (I don’t know the actual name, but where it says "press 1 for …) wasn’t very clear. I waited for a bit over 10 minutes and just gave up. I didn’t even know if I would get put through to the right team.
If the T&Cs says they will close it and I have messages that say they will close it, I will leave it at that for now. I’m not too bothered if they don’t close it (which seems likely sadly) as it is only a random savings account with nothing in it.
I’m still very surprised at how easy it was to reopen my Monzo account. For Virgin Money, it seems they want you to call or go into a branch for everything. All I needed to do to reopen my Monzo account was send an email with ID and my number. It was up and running again within a few hours. It was like I had never been away.
“You can close your account whenever you like. Just let us know if you want to close your M Plus Account, or you can use the Current Account Switch Service (CASS).”
This definitely suggests that the CASS is a way to close your account.
I know this isn’t a big deal but banks should be following their own terms and conditions. They shouldn’t be able to just do what they like.
CASS is a way to close an account. Everything you read about CASSing a current account says that your old account will be closed.
Not sure why you’re overthinking this. Call Virgin Money towards the end of their opening hours (say, 9:45) and you’ll get through. If being on hold is annoying, just call whilst you’re watching tv or something.
I’m not overthinking it. If they don’t close the savings account, their terms are wrong. I am allowed to point out when banks aren’t following their own terms.
No it doesn’t matter, but it is more the principle of it. We as users have the follow the terms that banks set out, so why isn’t Virgin Money following their own terms?