ISA: Transferring from one account to another

elle_gee

I have two ISAs already set up:-

1. With Halifax which was set up whenever ISAs first came out with money from my Grandparents (8 years ago?) and has had nothing but interest paid into it for over five years. Currently has £2600+ in it, at 3.06%.
2. With Nationwide which was set up about six years ago which my Mum paid into but had now stopped (pre-April this year). Currently has £1.02 in it (spent it on bedroom furniture!), at 4.8%.

I'm not in a position to pay into either (am aware I can only pay into one) right now, but I do want to get all the money into the Nationwide account as it has a higher rate.

How do I do it? Can I walk into Halifax, ask for a cheque for the balance then walk over to Nationwide and pay it in, or is it more complicated than that?

Or, on the other hand, is there another ISA anyone would recommend that I could put it all into? I don't think I'll need to get to the money quickly so something with 30/60 days notice would be fine but I'd rather not lock it away for a year (or three!) at a time.

Thanks all

Milarky

elle_gee wrote: »

How do I do it? Can I walk into Halifax, ask for a cheque for the balance then walk over to Nationwide and pay it in

No,no,no,no,no!!! ISA transfers must be direct from provider to provider (basically the tax man doesn't trust people not to abuse allowances) The system we are left with means you simply 'ask' the new provider to accept the transfer - fill in a few forms and leave them to mess it all up by themselves...

So: Go to selected provider and ask for an application form + 'transfer application' form (The tax man always knew it was a mistake to let people just sign one form - it was just becoming too easy for investors and too difficult for the providers to screw up the transfer process you see - so now we must always sign at least twice - usually on separate forms)

on the other hand, is there another ISA anyone would recommend that I could put it all into? I don't think I'll need to get to the money quickly so something with 30/60 days notice would be fine but I'd rather not lock it away for a year (or three!) at a time.

Thanks all

There are many you might like to consider. The easiest steps you could take, however is to ask for Halifax to immediately open a 'ISA Saver Direct' account (paying 5% on all balances) and - if you prefer Nationwide's fixed rate I'd pop in there tomorrow (or Monday) and sign the paperwork simply to open one. If you want to add the Halifax funds at a later stage (assuming the NW rate is still attractive) you may transfer from Halifax to Nationwide and open a second Fixed Rate ISA - you aren't limited to one account...

Mikeyorks

As previous post ..... go into your Halifax Branch and ask them to upgrade your Halifax ISA to their 'Direct' version. That's at 5% - so you've just increased your interest by 70% ...... and it's done over the counter.

Close the other one - it's not worth transferring for the value that's in it.

Oblivion

Milarky wrote: »

- fill in a few forms and leave them to mess it all up by themselves...

:rotfl: How very true.

Dave.