Moving ISA

kerri_gt

Hi, I have a small sum of money (not the max Cash ISA allownace) in a First Direct ISA account. The rate is due to drop in Nov so I am looking for alternatives.

I see Santander are offering the best rate (I'm a Santander customer) but do not accept ISA transfers. I know Martin's advise is when moving ISAs, don't take the cash as an account closure because you will lose tax benefits.

My question is, that would I lose anything by withdrawing my cash from my First Direct ISA and putting it into a Santander one since it is not up to (nor near) the max Cash ISA allownce for the tax year? My First Direct interest is paid monthly (don't know if this makes a diff).

Thanks

xrjtg

If you can do what you suggest and still pay in all the money you wanted to this year without exceeding what remains of your £5100 subscription allowance then it should work. If you've already contributed to this year's ISA with First Direct, make sure that you close the account, rather than just withdrawing all the money, so that you comply with the ISA regulations.

Jake'sGran

The first thing to do is find the best rate for your ISA and then ask the bank or Bldg society to send you a transfer form. Do not close your existing ISA account. Whichever bank you choose will do all that for you and transfer the money.

xrjtg

That works fine if the best ISA accepts transfers in, but if not, and you aren't using your allowance for anything else, you might as well close your existing account and resubscribe the money to the new top payer.

kerri_gt

xrjtg wrote: »

That works fine if the best ISA accepts transfers in, but if not, and you aren't using your allowance for anything else, you might as well close your existing account and resubscribe the money to the new top payer.

annoyingly the top Santander ISA doesn't allow transfers in which is why I wanted to double check about withdrawing my money and then putting it in as new cash - which is a bit of a faff tbh for an extra 0.2% above what I can get with the Halifax, but in this day and age, every little bit of interest counts.

savetilibleed

kerri_gt wrote: »

Hi, I have a small sum of money (not the max Cash ISA allownace) in a First Direct ISA account. The rate is due to drop in Nov so I am looking for alternatives.

Take a look at this Halifax ISA in this post

kerri_gt

savetilibleed wrote: »

Take a look at this Halifax ISA in this post

Thanks - this is the one I was going to go for if it was a bad idea for me to take the cash out of my First Direct ISA and put this into Santander (where I can get a rate of 3.2% as I am a Santander customer - one of the few who..touch wood...hasn't had any major issues with the A&L transition).