Transfer Cash ISAs Discussion Area

MarkyMarkD wrote: »

There is no justification for not sending the funds on the day the account is closed. So, barring it getting lost in the post, it should arrive with the other bank within 3 working days and be cleared within another 3 working days ... so let's say 7 working days in all is more than enough.

If your account was closed on 17/02/10 then it should be in the other account earning interest by 26/02/10. Which is just Friday. So you are getting a bit het up to be complaining it's not there yet, I guess.

Also, if the receiving bank is busy, they may easily bank the cheque straight away and deal with the processing later (but backdate it). That's fine unless you wanted to withdraw the money - which you wouldn't normally with an ISA transfer. So, once again, it's best to wait a little while and see what date they credit the funds from.

For exactly the reasons as noted above, they may be deluged and hence have some processing delay, but it doesn't necessarily mean that delay will cost you anything.

The transfer eventually took 5 weeks, although interest will be paid from 18 February by the receiving back (A&L). The transferring Bank (Nat West) did send the cheque on 17 February, but the paperwork was returned by A&L, as it did not contain the required Tax Year information. This was re-sent by Nat West on 3 March and the funds finally appeared in my wife's A&L account on 6 March.

Although A&L were in possession of the cheque from 18 February, they were telling my wife right up until the money appeared in her account over 2 weeks later that the cheque must have got lost and she should ask Nat West to issue a replacment!
Nat West took 2 weeks to action the transfer request in the first place and then sent incorrect paperwork.

It doesn't give one a lot of faith in the banks in question. The Ombudsman has written to both institutions. Nat West have responded and apologised, but so far nothing has been heard from A&L.

How typical is my wife's experience, I wonder?

DexyG wrote: »

Seeing as the tax year is ending in a few weeks, and that I haven't subscribed to my current ("deactivated") ISA since 2008, would I be able to sign up for a new ISA such as the Santander 3.5% one, and actually withdraw the money from the old one to transfer into the new one?

Yes, as far as ISA rules are concerned.

Would I have to reactivate the deactivated ISA to withdraw the money

Not as far as ISA rules are concerned, activating an old ISA is simply a matter of applying to subscribe to that ISA again after more than a full tax year without subscription.

Don't know as far as Santander's administrative processes are concerned.

..and would I therefore be able to open a new ISA in the same tax year as reactivating (but not subscribing to) one?

You wouldn't be 'reactivating' in the HMRC sense of the word (as above) but that's irrelevant anyway, as long as you have not subscribed to an ISA since 6th April 2009, you can open and subscribe your 2009/10 allowance with any ISA provider.

prudence41 wrote: »

Why is it that we can send men to the moon but can't have a short, sharp ISA process that uses 21st technology?

I wouldn't want to be an astronaut if Abbey was proposing to send me to the moon!

Your experience is par for the course with Abbey, from my own experience. A couple of years ago, they 'lost' a transfer application which I had handed in to a branch in October, finally contacting me to say that their ISA centre in Glasgow had 'found' it in December - my ISA funds had long been transferred elsewhere by that time.

prudence41 wrote: »

This tax year, I've transferred numerous ISAs (on woeful interest rates) into the NatWest e-ISA without any problems or delays ... until I tried to transfer in an old Abbey ISA. I submitted the application to NatWest at the end of December 2009 and the funds didn't finally transfer until last week -10 weeks in all!

It makes me so mad!!! Abbey said that they had never received the application the first time and then it took a week for the 'cheque' to arrive (who uses cheques? not even the banks!). As a result, that last transfer will only benefit from a month's decent interest rate.

Why is it that we can send men to the moon but can't have a short, sharp ISA process that uses 21st technology?

Sorry, but this is entirely your fault for not bothering to chase the transaction.

You could (should) have contacted Abbey two weeks down the line to confirm they'd had the transfer request - which they hadn't - and then got NatWest to resubmit it. Simple.

And all the banks use cheques to transfer ISAs. There is no automated process which will do it - and also transfer the necessary ISA history which needs to accompany the money. A piece of paper with a cheque attached is honestly the safest way to ensure both things get their together and remain linked to each other. There is a pilot scheme between a (very few) banks to do the transfer of information and money electronically, but it is only a very few banks and only (obviously) if the transfer is between them, which most transfers will not be.

Hi there, I've got two questions.

I have an existing Cash ISA, that I'm looking to transfer (I suppose to the First Direct one), but the new ISA says that you need to pay in at least £1 to start it. Am I right in thinking that I can't open this until the new tax year, as I'm not allowed to pay in £1, as I've already paid in to my existing Cash ISA this year. I wasn't sure about this last year, and so I waited until the new tax year before I started a new one.

Secondly, I was with Abbey (now Santander) the previous tax year, and am currently with Natwest. If I transfer back to Santander am I treated as a new customer, and therefore able to get their new rate? Or am I still an old customer, therefore no nice new rates for me? Or maybe I need to actively cancel my old Abbey account first (not sure if it will automatically have already been cancelled seeing as I had transferred all the money from it last April)?

Thanks for any help/answers!