Mini ISA

Bisoy · 4 March 2006 at 5:42AM

Hi Guys and newbie on this site but not entirely to moneysaving matters.I would like to congratulate Martin and his staff for this excellent site and all members who posted some very important money saving tips. In fact I bought Martin's Money Diet book last December(present for myself) which I have now pass on to my mate.

Now to start my first post hope you all guys be patient and gentle. I have an existing ISA from FD and have already used my full subscription of £3000 this year. I am planning to transfer it to A & L. Will A&L allow me to do that? Will I still earn any interest in spite having full subscription already as well as my previous years ISA subscription? Any thoughts greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Bisoy · 4 March 2006 at 12:04PM

Needs help please! I am now very confused on this ISA business. I am sure that I have read somewhere that you can transfer your existing ISA anytime but I rang A & L this morning and inquired and was told that I couldn't do that and needs to wait until the next tax year which is 6 April. Am I missing something? (Sorry if this is a repeat post) Thanks!

Money_Watch · 4 March 2006 at 12:42PM

Hi Bisoy,

You should be able to transfer your ISA, regardless of the tax year. It sounds like A&L may have got their wires crossed. I'd give them another call and explain it again, see what response you get.

Let us know how you get on.

Rob

zar · 4 March 2006 at 12:50PM

Hi, welcome to MSE :hello: I'm afraid I haven't any experience in transferring ISAs, but will try to help. Have you read Martin's article on the subject? Also the associated thread (sticky at the top of this board). Other people have transferred from FD to A&L judging from this thread.

AFAIK, when you transfer from your FD ISA, you'll be paid the pro-rata amount of interest for the time the money was in it. Then you'll be paid the pro-rata amount for the rest of the year in the A&L account. But when the money is "in transit" you won't be getting interest on it at all.

Hopefully someone who has actually done this will see the thread and let you know exactly what to say to A&L - apparantly sometimes bank staff get confused as to whether you can transfer in the same tax year as you have subscribed, which you can for most accounts.

Hope I've got all this right, it can be a confusing business!

savingforoz · 4 March 2006 at 2:10PM

ISA can be transferred easily enough, I've just done it. It can be a slow process however (mine took 2 months!!??). You tell your new ISA provider that you wnat to transfer, who you want to transfer from and the sort code and account number. They will do the rest. Your old provider will calculate interest up to the date of the transfer, add it to your capital, and transfer the whole amount across. Don't withdraw the money yourself and try to open a new ISA, as that breaks the rules.

grumbler · 4 March 2006 at 3:41PM

savingforoz wrote:

...You tell your new ISA provider that you wnat to transfer, who you want to transfer from and the sort code and account number. They will do the rest. ...

Some providers (new ISA) can ask you to 'push' transfer from the other side (old ISA) and instruct you how to do this. AFAIK this is the case with A&L.

Bisoy · 5 March 2006 at 6:19AM

Thanks for all replies guys. I did read the threads suggested by Zar but there has been no mentioned that they have used their full ISA allowance this year( maybe one or two might)Anyway I will try to give them a ring again and see what they'll say.

marrioa · 5 March 2006 at 2:35PM

I am in the same position as Bisoy. If I transfer my existing ISA to A&L before 5th April, can I then pay in a further £3 after 5th April? What if I can't manage to transfer the funds before 5th April, will that transfer count as my 2006 allowance?

Sorry if it's a daft question.

ManAtHome · 5 March 2006 at 3:04PM

Transfers don't count towards your tax-year maximum - if you took out an ISA in April 2005, you can transfer it any time - it'll still be your 2005/6 ISA (so you're free to take another one out for 2006/7 after April 5th).

steve_cov · 6 March 2006 at 9:54AM

If there's an Alliance & Leicester branch near you, why not call in and pick up the forms to transfer your ISA to them? You post the forms to your current provider and instruct them to transfer the balance as soon as possible.

Remember that the terminology is that you wish to transfer your ISA from your current provider. You are not opening a new ISA.

If you don't currently hold any accounts with A&L, it might be worth taking your passport/driving licence/utility bills etc with you as they can verify your identity.

sly_dog_jonah · 6 March 2006 at 12:02PM

steve_cov wrote:

If there's an Alliance & Leicester branch near you, why not call in and pick up the forms to transfer your ISA to them? You post the forms to your current provider and instruct them to transfer the balance as soon as possible.

Remember that the terminology is that you wish to transfer your ISA from your current provider. You are not opening a new ISA.

If you don't currently hold any accounts with A&L, it might be worth taking your passport/driving licence/utility bills etc with you as they can verify your identity.

I went to an A&L branch (make sure you make appointment) as a new customer to open this Direct ISA. It was for receiving my previous years subs from M&S and this year's full £3k from Abbey. Application date was 23rd Feb, received written confirmation of A&L A/C number on Tuesday 28th and promptly posted off two transfer forms (printed from A&L website) to M&S and Abbey. On Saturday 4th March I received a letter from M&S saying they were sending a fat cheque (with closing interest) to A&L. Have received an internet customer number, just waiting on a PIN to access it (they are sent out seperately).

Customer Service so far:
- A&L smooth and speedy, no hard sell for other products in store (said I was happy with current a/c and savings with Cahoot). Interest will be backdated to the date the cheque leaves the previous ISA providers. Also set up a Direct Debit from cahoot current account to pull in next year's subscription with minimal loss of interest.
- M&S very quick to respond to my request and send acknowledgement of transferred balance.
- Abbey... no response yet but to be fair M&S were lightning quick!

Mini ISA

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