Trying to plan for a maturing Isa-useless!!

ANGLICANPAT

How can you plan ahead for a maturing Isa when things are being pulled so suddenly. Fixed rate Isa matures 22/11 but if I try to apply for anything now, asking for the maturing bond to be transferred on 22nd, the chances are whatever I pick will be gone! Means I suppose I have to wait till the last minute .

Baldur

ANGLICANPAT wrote: »

How can you plan ahead for a maturing Isa when things are being pulled so suddenly. Fixed rate Isa matures 22/11 but if I try to apply for anything now, asking for the maturing bond to be transferred on 22nd, the chances are whatever I pick will be gone! Means I suppose I have to wait till the last minute.

In my experience, many ISA providers will honour the rate applicable at the date of application, even where the maturing funds will not be transferred until a later date.

I have certainly experienced this on a number of occasions where, as is my usual practise, I have applied for an ISA transfer around a month before the old ISA account's maturity date, specifying that the transfer should take place on maturity and the account to which I was transferring had been closed to new applications in the interim period.

ANGLICANPAT

Yes Ive had that in the past once or twice - notably the Coventry, but these days theyre playing rougher I think.Its just unsettling not knowing who'll do what. Chelsea have already told me they would cancel my application if offer closed before Isa matured - and it closed today, so Id be wasting my time there. Come back the days when you could just cast your eye over your one or two bank accounts every so often(in terms of changing accounts) rather than constantly having to check out new offers and see whether your account has been slashed , and remember endless passwords and maturing dates.

Mikeyorks

ANGLICANPAT wrote: »

Come back the days when you could just cast your eye over your one or two bank accounts every so often ......

A huge benefit setting up cash ISAs for fixed rate / maximum period at the outset? All ours are 4/5 years ........ but unfortunately beginning to mature. And it's not the time to re-invest at 4/5 years as rates aren't good enough. So I'm just renewing them in-situ, with the same provider, for the best 1 year rate on offer. And certainly not losing out on the average.

Last couple of years I've avoided cash and gone for S&S ISAs. And the return has been significantly better.

pqrdef

Mikeyorks wrote: »

Last couple of years I've avoided cash and gone for S&S ISAs. And the return has been significantly better.

I don't think the last two years have been very typical. In fact one of the reasons for the stock market's spectacular rise has been the amount of money deserting fixed-interest because of the low bank rate.

Of course that process could go into reverse at some point.

Milarky

As average ISA balances grow with every year's allowance it's inevitable that transfers will grow more popular. Banks have every interest to narrow the period a transfer takes.

To accept an application (pre transfer) on guaranteed terms however means they could be faced with a 'wall of applications' every time they bring out a product. This must particularly affect the smaller providers.

Well a wall is not quite as good as cash - since customers are allowed to change their minds at any time up until the closure of the existing account. But there's nothing to stop them reasonably 'oversubscribing' on applications and give the applicants who get in on time the guaranteed terms for the transfer to follow.

ANGLICANPAT

well well, Chelsea have done an about turn . I wanted to transfer a Chelsea 2yr fixed rate isa maturing on 22/11 to their 2yr fixed e isa. They said only last week that if the e bond was pulled before the 22nd, they would definitely cancel the application and not honour it.
I got an email yesterday which said transfers would be honoured as long as transfer papers were in by next Wed, and funds by Dec 17th. I rang to make absolutely sure , and they admitted there had been a rethink . Yerrrr! So, you folk who talked about honouring-- you were right!!

sueeve

Iopened a Barnsley ready for my maturing Isa to be transferred 2 weeks later, but the offer was closed and therefore I had to cancel arrangement, closing the ac I had just opened. So I started again with the Principality. Hope it works this time.