Icesave ISA - Can I withdraw and start new one?

LGG_2

ive just transfered almost 20K of an iceland ISA out to abbey today. it takes upto 2 weeks but other than pulling my money out and losing tax free status and all the years ive been building it up theres not much else u can do.

steve_hill

Mikeyorks, fantastic info, thanks very much for that nugget, very useful indeed.

I know many people are saying not to panic - I'm trying hard not to myself - but the situation over there in Iceland looks pretty grim. Even the PM is saying that the government will not be able nor be willing to bail out the banks in the coming days...not months (see below). The krona devaluation today has delivered a hard blow to them today. There will certainly be a run on the bank shares there if and when they restart trading in them again. I can't see anyone wanting to lend them money. Their plan is to sell foreign assets, I am not sure how many companies are in a position to be borrowing to buy assets from them at the moment. It could take far longer than they have.

He said

'The position has today altered completely and for the worse. Major credit lines to the banks have been closed and it was decided this morning to suspend trading with the banks and with the savings funds in the Icelandic Stock Exchange.'

'The Government has stated that it will do what is in its power to support the banking system. With this aim in view many important steps have been made over recent weeks and months. But in the perilous situation which exists now on the world's financial markets, providing the banks with a secure life line poses a great risk for the Icelandic nation. People must bear this in mind when there is talk about the Icelandic state taking on loans of thousands of billions to defend the banks in the rough waters which they now find themselves in. There is a very real danger, fellow citizens, that the Icelandic economy, in the worst case, could be sucked with the banks into the whirlpool and the result could be national bankruptcy. No responsible government takes risks with the future of its people, even when the banking system itself is at stake. The Icelandic nation and its future takes precedence over all other interests.'

'The task of the authorities over the coming days is clear: to make sure that chaos does not ensue if the Icelandic banks become to some extent non-operational.'

You can see the Icelandic PM's full speech here...
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/iceland/3147806/Financial-crisis-Full-statement-by-Icelands-prime-minister-Geir-Haarde.html

Cactus_Jack

I'd appreciate a bit of advice if possible. I'm a young saver, 24, and I put £3k into Icesave ISA in April. Tis too much to lose to me.

Since it hasn't actually been a very long time, I'm tempted to pull it out immediately rather than wait for a transfer.

Up to a couple of hours ago I was going to leave it, but having to rely on the Icelandic compensation scheme, if the worst happens, is something I'm starting to really worry about.

I'm really unclear of what will happen to my money if I can pull it out - I assumeI won't get any interest at all on it since April, and may even have to pay some tax on it?

I'd really appreciate some help. Also, how could I pull it out, into an A&L current account? Would I ask A&L to take it if I gave them my Icesave ISA number?

Edit: I have lost my Icesave user ID/password so can't login. Can I get it out without logging in? I've emailed them for my information, and may ring in the morning.

LGG_2

as its only 3K id just take it out straight away not bother transfering it. its not like its a big tax free amount that u have built up over many years. i presume that you will get the intrest that has been built up since you opened the account just like when u close any savings account. but will have to tell them u are closing it rather than just taking the money out and ice presuming you are keeping the account open and just want to use the money for something else.

if u want to move it to A&L go into a branch and tell them you want to transfer you ISA. they will fill out an transfer for for you and send it to ice save asking for your money. thats how u keep your tax free status. the transfer can take a maximun of 30 days. normally takes a couple of weeks or so

steve_hill

Cactus Jack, take a look at the useful post from Mikeyorks above. You can 'self-transfer' the ISA. So take it out directly, into any normal bank account you have and then you can go and set up a new ISA with someone else and place the £3k into that, without it losing its ISA tax free status.

Cactus_Jack

steve_hill wrote: »

Cactus Jack, take a look at the useful post from Mikeyorks above. You can 'self-transfer' the ISA. So take it out directly, into any normal bank account you have and then you can go and set up a new ISA with someone else and place the £3k into that, without it losing its ISA tax free status.

Thanks, to be honest I don't understand how to do it though. Would this just be a CHAPS payment to my UK current account?

Also can anyone advise me the login format for Icesave, i.e is the user ID something I created, a number, or my email address?

Gonna hunt for my original letters. Not good when I wanted an early night cos of man flu!

freddykrueger

Cactus_Jack wrote: »

Thanks, to be honest I don't understand how to do it though. Would this just be a CHAPS payment to my UK current account?

Also can anyone advise me the login format for Icesave, i.e is the user ID something I created, a number, or my email address?

Gonna hunt for my original letters. Not good when I wanted an early night cos of man flu!

Login for me was a mixture of numbers and letters which they sent to me via post - hope this jogs your memory?

Cactus_Jack

Thanks for replies to my post. I'm off to bed, nothing I can do now. I assume all I can do is call them tomorrow and ask them to re-send my information, which I assume they can only do through the post.

Looks like I'm riding this out!

I actually enjoyed their clear correspondance too, (even though I lost it). A refreshing change from UK bank letters.