I want to pay £5,000 into my wife's stocks and shares Isa from our joint account - why won't J.P. Morgan let me?

My wife and I have joint savings and current accounts, the only exception being our cash Isas and stocks and shares Isas.

When we make contributions to our stocks and shares Isas with J.P. Morgan Personal Investing, we always allocate identical amounts to each Isa.

In August I made a payment of £5,000 from our joint savings account into each of our Isas.

My funds arrived the following day – but the money still wasn't in my wife's Isa after a few days.

When we asked why the payments had bounced, we were told my wife's Isa had been 'blocked'.

I tried again in September – it initially failed but then worked, much to our delight. But the funds once again returned to our joint savings account a couple of days later.

We're trying to find out why the payments have been blocked but are not close to getting an answer.

Why is there a block in place? We just want to put money into her Isa. D.B., Hemel Hempstead.

Our reader wants to make a £5,000 payment to his wife's Isa - but has hit a brick wall

Lucy Evans, of This is Money, replies: You and your wife have been married for 53 years and have always shared your money throughout your marriage.

In fact, you only have separate Isas because the Government does not allow joint ones.

Everyone gets £20,000 annual allowance that they can save or invest inside these tax-efficient wrappers. It is a personal allowance, and the tax implications could become tangled if joint ones were allowed.

You were pleased with the performance of your stocks and shares Isa with J.P. Morgan Personal Investing, formerly known as Nutmeg, and wanted to continue investing through the account.

But when you went to add in £5,000, you hit a brick wall.

You also told me that your wife has Alzheimer's disease and you have an official agreement in place to help her manage her money.

But the firm still insisted on speaking to her over the phone about the block on the payments, which made her confused, distressed and uncomfortable.

It shouldn't be this difficult to hand over money to a bank, so I intervened on your behalf.

A spokesman for the firm tells me your payments were rejected because the payments were made from a bank account with your initials rather than your wife's.

But you insist that you made it from a joint account.

He added that the bank had previously said that a block may be put in place if payments continued to come from a bank account not in your wife's name.

It means that payments into the Isa were blocked earlier this year, so your two attempts to make a £5,000 payment bounced.

A spokesman says: 'We tried on a number of occasions to explain to our client about the need to use a bank account for the payment that was in the account holder's name.

'However, in this case our communications could have been clearer when our teams tried to help the couple resolve the payments issue.

'We have checks in place to help ensure that payments into our customers' accounts are made correctly. 

'These measures are designed to protect our clients and make sure that money paid into an account comes from a legitimate source.

'We recognise that customers in vulnerable circumstances may need additional support when managing their personal finances. 

'We apologise for any distress these interactions might have caused.'

An employee told you that the issue lay in you having joint savings and current accounts, as the firm has difficulty processing money from these clients.

You are delighted that the block has now been removed from the account and you've managed to pay in £5,000.

A £150 goodwill gesture has also been added to your wife's Isa.

You add: 'It's not expected, but hopefully they will now change their procedures to prevent a similar reoccurrence.'

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