Regular saver cash ISA

GTH_2

Having opened a regular saver ISA in May 09 that requires 12 monthly payments, my last payment will be in tax year 2010/11! Does this mean I can't open another cash ISA in 2010/11?

Baldur

If you started your RS ISA with a deposit in May 2009, your final payment should be in April 2010. If this is the case, ensure that it is paid by 5th April 2010.

You would then be eligible to open a 2010/11 Cash ISA from 6th April 2010.

GTH_2

I've tried that, Baldur. The T&C's state that each of the monthly payments will be on the same date each month. In my case the final payment will be in the 3rd week of April 2010!
Thanks for the help.

Baldur

GTH wrote: »

I've tried that, Baldur. The T&C's state that each of the monthly payments will be on the same date each month. In my case the final payment will be in the 3rd week of April 2010!

Those are very harsh conditions - to lose out on your 2010/11 Cash ISA allowance of £5,100 for the sake of 2/3 weeks is absolutely crazy. The few RS ISA s that I have seen (Principality, Britannia) even permit additional DD/cash/cheque payments just prior to 5th April to allow savers to fully utilise their ISA allowance in the tax year.

Have you tried negotiating with the operator of the RS ISA/writing to the CEO, etc.?

SnowMan

Sounds a bit like the First Direct regular saver ISA.

But regardless of who it is, you can still contribute the remainder of your £5,100 allowance to another ISA in 2010/2011 (but not just by opening a new ISA of course).

To do this, after you have made the April 2010 payment, transfer the regular saver ISA to another provider (although you will of course be restricted to ISAs that allow transfer ins as well as ongoing contributions). You will then be able to pay £5,100 less the April 2010 payment into the new ISA into which the transfer was paid.

It is a bit messy and why it is best to take out 12 month regular saver ISAs before the end of April (ish) to get the 12 contributions all within the same tax year.

agsnu

SnowMan wrote: »

Sounds a bit like the First Direct regular saver ISA.

But regardless of who it is, you can still contribute the remainder of your £5,100 allowance to another ISA in 2010/2011 (but not just by opening a new ISA of course).

Well, you could always open a new ISA with the same provider (although their rates might not be that competitive).

Milarky

SnowMan wrote: »

But regardless of who it is, you can still contribute the remainder of your £5,100 allowance to another ISA in 2010/2011 (but not just by opening a new ISA of course).

To do this, after you have made the April 2010 payment, transfer the regular saver ISA to another provider (although you will of course be restricted to ISAs that allow transfer ins as well as ongoing contributions). You will then be able to pay £5,100 less the April 2010 payment into the new ISA into which the transfer was paid.

Well spotted. But, in fact you can go a stage further - and open any account with the provider you have selected to transfer your 'bit' of 2010/11 ISA to - because seaparate accounts are allowed under ISA rules - just not splitting the current year's payments across separate providers at the same time. It is possible, for instance, that a provider has a very good offer for 'new money' only but also offers a 'standard' product from transfer-in purposes. Under this scenario one would have to take a 'hit' on the transferred-in amount (but that need only be the final instalment - and not the 2009/10 part of the RS ISA, for instance) so one could select a 'good' new-money only product from the newprovider and put up with a poor or inferior 'holding' account which has only £300 in it. This option would allow the bulk of the RS ISA maturity balance to be moved to the 'best' transfer-accepting account whilst the balance could be subscribed direct to the 'best' 'new money' account as long as the ISA provider accepts any kind of transfer (as not all do)

If the RS account in question is the First Direct version then the OP would have just a bit more flexibility - which is to minimize their very last payment. Then they could have as little as £25 to transfer (interest paid in 2010/11 won't count as 'subscription' money, remember) and as much as £5075 could subsequently be added in 'new money' account.

GTH_2

Thanks to you all for the advice.
Yes, it is First Direct and I agree that the T&C's are harsh (I should have read them first though!!)
Thanks again.