CHEAP BUT POOR SERVICE

Whether a platform is cheap or expensive depends on what you hold (funds or shares), how you hold them (ISA, SIPP &c), the size of your portfolio, and how frequently you trade. You can get a clear comparison of costs at a comparison site (though I do not know how accurate the site is - you should check the sites you are interested in direct). You also need to think what will happen to your portfolio in the future as some platforms - including ii - have heavy exit fees. For a relatively large portfolio of unit trusts which is traded rarely, ii is cheap.

The online platform is adequate, though not especially user-friendly. My few routine trades have gone through OK.

Compared to my previous funds platform it has the advantage that you can dispose of funds for cash online - with the other platform you could reinvest online but for cash you needed to write to them on paper.

Where ii fall down is on customer service.

Transferring in took months and was full of errors. They blamed the sending platform. But I find that hard to believe as my old platform had sent me an accurate closing statement promptly. Not being able to trade in my funds disrupted my investment plan for the year. ii did pay me compensation for poor service.

Their production of tax certificates for 2014-15 was a mess. They produced the first version in October 2015 (the other platforms that I use produced them in April). That version was wrong on the face of the record. They produced three further versions, sometimes correcting errors, sometimes making new ones. They finally produced a version in December 2015 that did not contain any obvious error. Late production of certificates delays submitting an accurate tax return leading to loss of interest if you wish to claim a refund. Moreover, it was only when they issued revised certificates to all in December that they sent out a general message to users - so some people will have relied on tax certificates that ii had known for weeks or months to be wrong.

So, cheap for some portfolios, but real problems with aspects of customer service. A difficult decision to make.