First Direct No Longer Values Loyal Custom

lola124

Milarky wrote: »

I can't see anywhere (including the e-ISA terms and conditions) that says you can't have more than one e-ISA. It may be implicit, of course, that you can't but it is worth asking First Direct for clarification (e.g Nationwide allows multiple 'fixed rate' ISAs - Yorkshire BS allows you to open dupicate ISA 'instant access' accounts - I've just done it)

The other option is to transfer out (cancelling the old account) then re-apply through a transfer in

(again, I think it is 'inertia' which FD is relying on rather than onerous terms and conditions)

you can only have one isa per tax year, this is a government ruling, nothing to do with the banks themselves

Milarky

lola124 wrote: »

you can only have one isa per tax year, this is a government ruling, nothing to do with the banks themselves

You've misunderstood. in the current tax year - this year - you can only hold an ISA in one place at a time. That said there is nothing to stop you moving your ISA from either account to account or provider to provider several times in the course of this year - so long as all of this year's money follows and stays in the same 'place' at all times (and 'place' means 'manager', 'firm', or 'bank' - so you still could open as many ISAs with the same manager in the year you subscribe as they will allow since the money is counted as being in the same 'place')

When it comes to anything other than this year's ISA cash (i.e 'past year transfers') you can spread that around as liberally and indescriminately as you like - the ISA rules effectively disappear after 12 months....

So it would be permissable (in theory) to have two First Direct e-ISA's - with one at the new higher rate - if FD allows this under their own terms and conditions. But I take the point about this year's money being involved. If you started paying into an e-ISA then you would have to transfer that money out before opening a second e-ISA if you wanted all the cash in at a higher rate - because once the second e-ISA was opened both accounts would have to be transferred together - or not at all.