Best ISA at the mo?

recaro · 25 March 2005 at 3:57PM

Hi,

Want to take advantage of the end of the financial year so have decided to stick 3K in an ISA. I will then stick another 3K in the next financial year.

But whats the best ISA to go for at the mo?

I heard Alliance and Leciester was good, but I cant apply at the mo as its too late (according to there website) to apply before the end of the financial year

First Direct seems good, but the higher interest is only for 8 months, Could I cancel the account in 8 months time?

Any others that are good?

Thanks for any advice.

grumbler · 25 March 2005 at 4:13PM

recaro wrote:

Hi,
First Direct seems good, but the higher interest is only for 8 months, Could I cancel the account in 8 months time?

You do not have enough time for FD! Read THIS. You do not have time to chose too! If you already have ISA just put money into it and than take time for choosing and transfer later. If you still do not have ISA just open it somewhere. May be this post could help.

Kazza242 · 25 March 2005 at 4:17PM

First Direct's ISA is closed to non-First Direct customers for this tax year (04/05).

Alliance & Leicester's ISA is to be avoided anyway, as they charge you £25 if you wish to transfer out of their ISA to another provider!

Abbey's ISA currently pays 5.35% - although they've decreased their interest rate guarantee to Bank of England Base Rate +0.25% from April. This could see their interest rate drop to 5% or 5.1% (as they do tend to pay 0.1% above their own guarantee).

Yorkshire Building Society have a CAT standard ISA paying 5.20% and a 30 day notice (non-CAT standard) ISA paying 5.25%.

Halifax have a five year fixed rate ISA paying 5.7%. Bristol & West's ISA bond pays 5.55% fixed for one year.

There are so many more ISA's available. Here's a link to the Moneyfacts ISA's page. Here is a link to the MoneySupermarket ISA's page.

Martin has written an article on the Best mini cash ISA. Here is a link to the article.

ioscorpio · 26 March 2005 at 12:35PM

I currently have a cash isa with M&S now paying 5.25% (one of Martin's best buys last year) is it worth switching to A&L, I will probably start a new isa as well after 6th April for 2005/06

Kazza242 · 26 March 2005 at 1:10PM

iomexico wrote:

I currently have a cash isa with M&S now paying 5.25% (one of Martin's best buys last year) is it worth switching to A&L, I will probably start a new isa as well after 6th April for 2005/06

I've got a M&S ISA too (03/04 and 04/05). They've reduced their guarantee from BOE Base Rate +0.5% to +0.25%. This could see the M&S ISA rate falling to 5.00%.

Still, I don't think it is a good idea to switch to the A&L's ISA, as they charge a £25 fee if you wish to transfer from them to another provider.

I expect some new, better offerings will come out in April, so I'm going to hang on until then.

grumbler · 26 March 2005 at 1:23PM

iomexico wrote:

I currently have a cash isa with M&S now paying 5.25% (one of Martin's best buys last year) is it worth switching to A&L, I will probably start a new isa as well after 6th April for 2005/06

A&L rate is just 0.15% above M&S. If you transfer £3000 you will win just about £10 even if you add another £3000 straight away. However, if you want to transfer ISA from A&L in the future they will charge you £35 transfer fee. This transfer fee could probably mean that A&L are not going to maintain competitive rate in the future. Are you also aware that M&S have now closed their Cash ISA to new savers? If you transfer you probably cannot come back. Their rate is not the best, but still very good.

Best ISA at the mo?

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