Santander 3.50% ISA?

roscolabri

Hello all,

At the tail end of the last tax year I put £3600 into the Santander 3.50% ISA. As we are now in the new tax year, I want to use the full allowance for this tax year, £5100.

The question is, can I put this amount into the 3.50% ISA or will I have to open a brand new ISA (most likely the 3.20%)?

Obviously I'd rather put it in the higher % but just wanted to check if it's even possible.

One last thing, both the ISAs I mentioned have the 12 month bonus applied to them. Does the bonus rate start as soon as you put money in, or when the actual account is opened?

Thanks

Stompa

There are some other threads about this, but the general consensus seems to be that the whole lot gets 3.50%, and the 12 month guarantee starts from when the account was initially funded.

FWIW after adding funds from both years it shows up online as just a single combined balance.

PC_Gabriel_Kent

The OP can put the rest of their allowance into the already open Flexi ISA. The 3.5% rate is 12 months from date of opening. It is not 12 months from the date money paid in unless paid in on same date of opening.

rb10

PC_Gabriel_Kent wrote: »

The 3.5% rate is 12 months from date of opening. It is not 12 months from the date money paid in unless paid in on same date of opening.

According to the T&Cs it is 12 months from the date that money is paid in:

Santander_ISA_T&Cs wrote:

Section A
General Conditions
This section always applies.
1 Start date
Your ISA will begin as soon as we accept your application and receive your payment.

If your account doesn't start until they have received payment, then the 12 month term has to begin on the date that payment is received by Santander.

Ditch_Crawler

rb10 wrote: »

According to the T&Cs it is 12 months from the date that money is paid in:



If your account doesn't start until they have received payment, then the 12 month term has to begin on the date that payment is received by Santander.

The 3.5% will be paid for 12 months from the date of any initial payment is the way I read it - subsequent deposits will receive the 3.5% until the 1st anniversary of the very first payment.

Spiggle

Ditch_Crawler wrote: »

The 3.5% will be paid for 12 months from the date of any initial payment is the way I read it - subsequent deposits will receive the 3.5% until the 1st anniversary of the very first payment.

I agree Ditch, it's from the opening of the account, i.e. when the first funds are deposited. I'm not a calculator but if you opened it at the tail end of the tax year (as opposed to calendar) then it has to be better value to put your £5100 in the already open account.

Spigs

rb10

Ditch_Crawler wrote: »

The 3.5% will be paid for 12 months from the date of any initial payment is the way I read it - subsequent deposits will receive the 3.5% until the 1st anniversary of the very first payment.

Yes - sorry, that is what I meant, even if I didn't make it quite clear.

However, I'm sure that what I posted still means that PC Gabriel Kent's claim above mine is incorrect.

tallmum

:mad::(
I wish I'd seen this earlier this week - I funded an A&L ISA at 3.5% lastmonth and thought I had to open a new account for this year, so I've just opened a new account at 3.2% DOH!!!!!

Sam37

tallmum wrote: »

:mad::(
I wish I'd seen this earlier this week - I funded an A&L ISA at 3.5% lastmonth and thought I had to open a new account for this year, so I've just opened a new account at 3.2% DOH!!!!!

If you haven't funded the 3.2% account you can just close it again, otherwise you are probably still within the 14 days after account opening, so you can still close it too.

Stompa

Sam37 wrote: »

If you haven't funded the 3.2% account you can just close it again, otherwise you are probably still within the 14 days after account opening, so you can still close it too.

In theory you can even do so (I think?) beyond the 14 days. See the second loophole here:

http://www.moneywise.co.uk/news-views/2009/09/25/could-you-cash-multiple-isa-loophole

It's probably not worth it for the sake of 0.3% though!

Mickygg

tallmum wrote: »

:mad::(
I wish I'd seen this earlier this week - I funded an A&L ISA at 3.5% lastmonth and thought I had to open a new account for this year, so I've just opened a new account at 3.2% DOH!!!!!

0.3% on £5100 is only £15.30 you have lost out on, so don't worry about it! By opening another account, you have guaranteed the rate for an extra month anyway.