cash isa - tessa funds

kingofthecastle

hi
my old cash isa-tessa funds (toisa) at Natwest is getting poor level of interest.
I have already subcribed the full £3600 for the 2008/09 tax year to an A+L e-isa.
Can i transfer the old isa-tessa funds to a new cash isa with a better rate in this tax year?
any advice pls

Baldur

kingofthecastle wrote: »

my old cash isa-tessa funds (toisa) at Natwest is getting poor level of interest.
I have already subcribed the full £3600 for the 2008/09 tax year to an A+L e-isa.
Can i transfer the old isa-tessa funds to a new cash isa with a better rate in this tax year?

TOISAs ceased to exist last April and became simply Cash ISAs - they can be transferred at any time to a new ISA provider, as long as that provider accepts inward transfers.

Having used the current tax year's full allowance is irrelevant as far as transfers are concerned.

kingofthecastle

baldur
thanks for the info. think i'll move to an e-isa at natwest paying 3.51 % - hopefully should be easy as i can do it all online and will save me battling thru the snow and ice. their website says transfers in from other banks or from other natwest accounts are OK although it says on MSE website that transfers are not allowed. will give it a try online.

Baldur

kingofthecastle wrote: »

....will give it a try online.

You need to download, print & complete their transfer form from this page then

take it your local branch or post it to Central Tax Unit, 9th Floor, 1 Hardman Boulevard, Manchester M3 3AQ.

Remember that they must arrange the transfer not you.

nmh1

I have a TOISA with Abbey held for several years that I can't add anything to, but I also have a cash ISA with NatWest.
Do the new rules making my TOISA a cash ISA affect the NatWest ISA?

kingofthecastle

ok thanks got that

masonic

nmh1 wrote: »

I have a TOISA with Abbey held for several years that I can't add anything to, but I also have a cash ISA with NatWest.
Do the new rules making my TOISA a cash ISA affect the NatWest ISA?

No, the ex-TOISA will be treated just like any other ISA from previous tax years. They operate independently unless you transfer one into the other, but you can obviously only contribute to one in any given tax year.

nmh1

Thanks masonic for your advice

EricBaker

You need to check the individual provider's rules about inward transfers. Last year we went with Egg (never again!) and as rates plummeted found it did not allow inward transfers. This year we're only considering providers who allow inward transfers and have no orphan ISA accounts from previous years on pitiful rates. Egg fail on both counts.

The worst dishonesty I've found with ISA rates is NatWest - it took a lot of digging on their site to find that they've silently put my wife's "Cash ISA - TESSA funds" down to a derisory 0.1% - that's 3.5% or so below their headline ISA rates for no reason other than they think they can get away with it. Well they'll lose all our ISA money imminently and I'll never go near them again for savings.