Personal Finance

transfer of LIRA from RBC to another institution - delays

  • Last Updated:
  • Nov 4th, 2017 2:23 pm
Member
Jun 28, 2011
463 posts
140 upvotes
VANCOUVER

transfer of LIRA from RBC to another institution - delays

I have a LIRA account with RBC and recently (at the beginning of October), I put in a transfer request. (it was done by CIBC and I didn't go into a RBC branch)
I called RBC and they still don't have record of having received this transfer request. I realize it's their back office in Montreal that handles transfer requests and not the customer department in Toronto.
Is this the norm? I understood transfers take approximately 3-4 weeks. (transfer in cash)

I know the transfer was sent to a PO box address (this is the address on the statement) and the RBC CSR said the transfer request may have been re-directed to a different address. (he gave me a different address which handles the transfers)
In any event, nothing has been done and perhaps the request got lost somewhere? In this case, I'll leave my LIRA account with RBC as we're approaching Christmas and RRSP season.

Any feedback?
8 replies
Deal Fanatic
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Feb 19, 2010
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There's no such thing as "RRSP season". That's simply a marketing ploy by those seeking to get hold of your money. RRSP season is 365 days long.

Back to your main point, though, it's not too surprising that the bank receiving the funds hopped right on the request while the one losing the funds is taking their sweet time to get around to it. Par for the course.
Member
Jun 28, 2011
463 posts
140 upvotes
VANCOUVER
Conquistador wrote: There's no such thing as "RRSP season". That's simply a marketing ploy by those seeking to get hold of your money. RRSP season is 365 days long.

Back to your main point, though, it's not too surprising that the bank receiving the funds hopped right on the request while the one losing the funds is taking their sweet time to get around to it. Par for the course.
Point taken about RRSP season and marketing ploys.
I spoke to my account manager (for the receiving bank) and they'll re-submit the request.
I agree, the outgoing bank isn't in any hurry to transfer out funds and my account manager told me she has other clients with similar delays.
'tis the nature of financial institutions
Deal Addict
Feb 24, 2008
2331 posts
826 upvotes
travelandshoppingwoman77 wrote: I have a LIRA account with RBC and recently (at the beginning of October), I put in a transfer request. (it was done by CIBC and I didn't go into a RBC branch)
I called RBC and they still don't have record of having received this transfer request. I realize it's their back office in Montreal that handles transfer requests and not the customer department in Toronto.
Is this the norm? I understood transfers take approximately 3-4 weeks. (transfer in cash)

I know the transfer was sent to a PO box address (this is the address on the statement) and the RBC CSR said the transfer request may have been re-directed to a different address. (he gave me a different address which handles the transfers)
In any event, nothing has been done and perhaps the request got lost somewhere? In this case, I'll leave my LIRA account with RBC as we're approaching Christmas and RRSP season.

Any feedback?
Recently, I transferred out my LIRA from Sun Life to CIBC. Sun Life was playing the delaying game with me, so I complained to their next level and that really got things moving. In any case, it took about 2 weeks for the transfer.

Make sure you stay on top of this issue by escalating within RBC. Have CIBC fax the request to RBC instead so they can't say they never got it;, in my case, CIBC faxed everything over to Sun Life.
Member
Jun 28, 2011
463 posts
140 upvotes
VANCOUVER
kulb wrote: Recently, I transferred out my LIRA from Sun Life to CIBC. Sun Life was playing the delaying game with me, so I complained to their next level and that really got things moving. In any case, it took about 2 weeks for the transfer.

Make sure you stay on top of this issue by escalating within RBC. Have CIBC fax the request to RBC instead so they can't say they never got it;, in my case, CIBC faxed everything over to Sun Life.
May I ask how long the delay was with SunLife?
Yeah, I'm starting to think that my transfer request is sitting on someone's desk and that's why there's no note of it having been received. :rolleyes:
CIBC will be re-sending the request via fax this time (apparently RBC will now accept fax requests) and if there's still an issue, I'll escalate it further with RBC.
smh...
Jr. Member
Sep 10, 2017
139 posts
91 upvotes
travelandshoppingwoman77 wrote: May I ask how long the delay was with SunLife?
Yeah, I'm starting to think that my transfer request is sitting on someone's desk and that's why there's no note of it having been received. :rolleyes:
CIBC will be re-sending the request via fax this time (apparently RBC will now accept fax requests) and if there's still an issue, I'll escalate it further with RBC.
smh...
Which division of RBC is it coming from and which division of CIBC is it going to?

Example if its going from RBC Dominion Securities to CIBC Wood Gundy, then it shouldn't take that long since they're both ATON eligible. But if it's coming from the branch directly, yeah they'll need to fax the transfer forms in.

Since your moving a LIRA, there could be other issues between the two institutions that could be causing the delay. Example CIBC opened the LIRA account with the wrong jurisdiction. I would try to find out with CIBC what the delay is. It is the receiving institutions responsibility to follow up on the transfer.
Deal Addict
Feb 24, 2008
2331 posts
826 upvotes
travelandshoppingwoman77 wrote: May I ask how long the delay was with SunLife?
Yeah, I'm starting to think that my transfer request is sitting on someone's desk and that's why there's no note of it having been received. :rolleyes:
CIBC will be re-sending the request via fax this time (apparently RBC will now accept fax requests) and if there's still an issue, I'll escalate it further with RBC.
smh...
SunLife sat on the request for a week, they had someone from their retention team call me to do a review and trying to get me to stay with them... That's when I complained to a manager and then things moved pretty fast from there. CIBC was good throughout the process. I was dealing with a very responsive person assigned to my file, they even gave me $350 credit for bringing my assets to them.
Member
Jun 28, 2011
463 posts
140 upvotes
VANCOUVER
MysticGohan wrote: Which division of RBC is it coming from and which division of CIBC is it going to?

Example if its going from RBC Dominion Securities to CIBC Wood Gundy, then it shouldn't take that long since they're both ATON eligible. But if it's coming from the branch directly, yeah they'll need to fax the transfer forms in.

Since your moving a LIRA, there could be other issues between the two institutions that could be causing the delay. Example CIBC opened the LIRA account with the wrong jurisdiction. I would try to find out with CIBC what the delay is. It is the receiving institutions responsibility to follow up on the transfer.
It's a straight forward RRSP transfer (LIRA to LIRA account).
i spoke to the account manager at CIBC who said she had the transfer form reviewed by a manager who is experienced with transfers and their back office confirmed the form was fine and the mailing address for RBC was correct.
Since it was sent via regular mail, who knows where it is.
Regardless, the account manager will fax the form to the RBC branch which opened the LIRA account and ask them to fax it to their Investment department.
Member
Jun 28, 2011
463 posts
140 upvotes
VANCOUVER
kulb wrote: SunLife sat on the request for a week, they had someone from their retention team call me to do a review and trying to get me to stay with them... That's when I complained to a manager and then things moved pretty fast from there. CIBC was good throughout the process. I was dealing with a very responsive person assigned to my file, they even gave me $350 credit for bringing my assets to them.
Not surprised SunLife tried to convince you to stay.
In my case, RBC hasn't received the transfer form and it has been almost 4 weeks since it was mailed out. (I think this is the problem - it was sent via regular mail and now RBC will accept faxed requests, go figure!)
I called RBC and the CSR said they can't do anything without a reference number (which isn't logged in as they've never received the request).
Once the request is sent by fax, a reference number will be issued and if there are any issues, I can call to escalate things.
Fingers crossed there aren't issues this time.
CIBC will reimburse me for the transfer fee. Impressed they gave you a $350 credit and glad the person you dealt with was very good to deal with. (they should be with incoming business)

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