Cash Isas Transfer discussion

RaihanT

Hi all,

I was looking at Halifax's website and see that 'Variable interest paid annually, a rate of 5.00% AER/gross p.a'. This is lower than Martin's 5.15% that he was talking about, have Halifax lowered their rate?

Slimeball20

Yep, just like every other bank/building society due to the Bank of England drop in interest rates a few weeks ago.

Interestingly, I haven't received any correspondence from Abbey where I have a Postal ISA issue 1 regarding the drop in interest rates.

I thought they were supposed to notify everyone about it as part of their T&Cs?

Can anyone shed some light please?!

Thanks.

isasmurf

Abbey Postal ISA (Issue 1) pays 4.9% interest
http://www.abbey.com/legacy_products.htm

jimclark1967

Slimeball20 wrote:

I thought they were supposed to notify everyone about it as part of their T&Cs?

Can anyone shed some light please?!

Thanks.

They do have to notify you, but only within 30 days of the reduction already having taken place. Expect a letter in a couple of weeks time!

JC

Slimeball20

I have £5000 in the Postal ISA at the mo.

Not worth transferring to the Halifax or Beverley is it?

kt

I wish to transfer my last years isa allowance to Halifax, due to FD,s October reduction in interest rates. If I put money in my First Direct isa account for this year am I still able to transfer last year's allowance and still keep my First Direct account open therefore benefiting from the higher interest rates operating until February.

jimclark1967

Slimeball20 wrote:

I have £5000 in the Postal ISA at the mo.

Not worth transferring to the Halifax or Beverley is it?

0.1% difference is £5 a year, some of which would be lost in the transfer.

I'm not bothering leaving the Postal ISA till there's more of a difference.

JC

edda

kt wrote:

I wish to transfer my last years isa allowance to Halifax, due to FD,s October reduction in interest rates. If I put money in my First Direct isa account for this year am I still able to transfer last year's allowance and still keep my First Direct account open therefore benefiting from the higher interest rates operating until February.

You can transfer any prior tax years' ISAs regardless of what you have done (or are about to do) with the current tax year's ISA - and you stick to any rules your chosen provider sets.

Just make sure you do it through any transfer mechanism - if you withdraw by cheque, you will lose your ISA allowance forever. Also make sure that the person dealing with your request understands it is a transfer - not a new ISA this year. With so many products about, not all staff know all the rules of all products.

Good luck!

catsilversword

Does anyone knpw if Northern Rock charges any fees to transfer an ISa away from them?

pjl_2

OK I admit it that the more I read about ISA's the more I'm confused so here go's.

I had had a NatWest mini ISA for some years now but have really used it has a high-interest savings account so having recently bought a car my current balance is low but I still have some more to invest this tax year. I am planning to get serious about saving though and change my provider to someone else, considering Halifax's 5% postal ISA. Anybody know if I'm likely to get hit by charges?

More importantly my missus has had a barclay variable mini ISA, for ether two or three years now, but anyway she has used all her allocation (6 or 9K) and unlike me doesn't withdraw from it. Am I right in thinking she can simply transfer the lot to a different provider? Any recommendations for branch based ISA's as she doesn't quite trust the internet. Does anyone know if Barclays will charge.

Many thanks, Peter.