National Counties Building Society 3.7%

User1234

Hi,

Lots of very helpful people here it seems I've read through the 3 pages so far but am not sure that anyone has asked what I'm confused about doing so here it goes:

I opened a Santander Flexible ISA (3.3%) on 28th Feb 2011. I immediately paid in the maximum allowed £5100 for the tax year 2010-2011. In around September 2011 I paid in the maximum allowed £5340 for the tax year 2011-2012. My balance is therefore £10,440. I haven't yet received any interest but expect this to be added to the account on, or sometime shortly after 28th Feb this year. Would that be correct?

As the interest on this account will drop to 0.5% after 28th Feb I want to transfer and, like many have seen that the NCBS ISA seems like a good option (not an existing customer with them).

If I choose to transfer my entire balance from Santander to NCBS by going through the apply online process and opening a new ISA, would I be ok to do this from 29th Feb / 1st March onwards? Again I'm guessing this is ok and that from the date of opening account/transfer to a year later I'll receive 3.7% on that?

The bit the really muddles my brain is the mention by some that they have to select what tax year they're applying for as I have £5640 in a current account ready for the new 2012-2013 tax year. If I transfer my full £10,440 Santander ISA (plus whatever interest I've earnt) into an NCBS ISA what tax year do I select? Can I pay £5640 into the NCBS ISA in April for the 2012-2013 tax year and receive 3.7% on that also? (over ~11 months as the account would be 1 month old roughly).

Thanks for any advice

10_66

User1234 wrote: »

...If I choose to transfer my entire balance from Santander to NCBS by going through the apply online process and opening a new ISA, would I be ok to do this from 29th Feb / 1st March onwards? Again I'm guessing this is ok and that from the date of opening account/transfer to a year later I'll receive 3.7% on that?

You can't apply online if it's to transfer in to this account, only if you're opening with this year's subscription, you have to complete the downloadable application and transfer form and post it to ncbs. If the Santander's a variable rate account, you don't normally need to wait until the year's up, if you request an immediate transfer then the closing interest will be paid on transfer/closure (you'd need to check your ISAs terms and conditions to be sure of this though).

User1234 wrote: »

The bit the really muddles my brain is the mention by some that they have to select what tax year they're applying for as I have £5640 in a current account ready for the new 2012-2013 tax year. If I transfer my full £10,440 Santander ISA (plus whatever interest I've earnt) into an NCBS ISA what tax year do I select? Can I pay £5640 into the NCBS ISA in April for the 2012-2013 tax year and receive 3.7% on that also? (over ~11 months as the account would be 1 month old roughly).

If you're transferring in, you don't need to complete which tax year it's for. You can't add to this account once it's been withdrawn, so you wouldn't be able to add to it if this is the case by the 6 April.

SnowMan

User1234 wrote: »

Hi,

Lots of very helpful people here it seems I've read through the 3 pages so far but am not sure that anyone has asked what I'm confused about doing so here it goes:

I opened a Santander Flexible ISA (3.3%) on 28th Feb 2011. I immediately paid in the maximum allowed £5100 for the tax year 2010-2011. In around September 2011 I paid in the maximum allowed £5340 for the tax year 2011-2012. My balance is therefore £10,440. I haven't yet received any interest but expect this to be added to the account on, or sometime shortly after 28th Feb this year. Would that be correct?

As the interest on this account will drop to 0.5% after 28th Feb I want to transfer and, like many have seen that the NCBS ISA seems like a good option (not an existing customer with them).

If I choose to transfer my entire balance from Santander to NCBS by going through the apply online process and opening a new ISA, would I be ok to do this from 29th Feb / 1st March onwards? Again I'm guessing this is ok and that from the date of opening account/transfer to a year later I'll receive 3.7% on that?

The bit the really muddles my brain is the mention by some that they have to select what tax year they're applying for as I have £5640 in a current account ready for the new 2012-2013 tax year. If I transfer my full £10,440 Santander ISA (plus whatever interest I've earnt) into an NCBS ISA what tax year do I select? Can I pay £5640 into the NCBS ISA in April for the 2012-2013 tax year and receive 3.7% on that also? (over ~11 months as the account would be 1 month old roughly).

Thanks for any advice

I'm amazed that National Counties haven't pulled the 3.7% account yet. However still think they will very shortly. So the important thing is to move quickly. In particular there is no need to wait until 29th February.

Don't know much about the Santander flexible ISA but from what I can tell there is no penalty for transferring it elsewhere and no required notice period. Assuming this is the case, you will be paid accrued interest by Santander up to the date of transfer, it is irrelevant when the interest is physically paid as you will get interest to date of transfer one way or another.

Assuming the National Counties ISA is withdrawn then you will be able to open a new ISA in 2012/2013 tax year. However that will have to be somewhere else other than National Counties because once it is withdrawn no further deposits will be allowed to that account.

As 10_66 says you apply by printing off the application form and sending on rather than using the on-line application which is only for those subscribing this year's ISA allowance directly to National Counties. Leave the tax year blank.

User1234

SnowMan wrote: »

Assuming the National Counties ISA is withdrawn then you will be able to open a new ISA in 2012/2013 tax year. However that will have to be somewhere else other than National Counties because once it is withdrawn no further deposits will be allowed to that account.

Thanks for your reply. So printed application only, right, got that! Now I'm more confused than before though! :rotfl:

I'm not sure I follow with the above though. What do you mean by withdrawn? Is this referring to taking the money out? Or are you referring withdrawing the offer (I've seen you mention in many posts in this thread about it being too good / must be pulled soon)? In this case, won't they honour the agreement with customers who have already signed up rather than essentially force them to move elsewhere by blocking deposits? Really couldn't follow that... sorry!!

Given my Santander ISA drops to 0.5% in 2 days time, I was under the impression that I could:
- transfer right now to a *single* new provider ("subscribe")
- move the full balance (10,440 + interest)
- pay in £5640 in April
- after 1 year receive 3.X% AER on 10,440 ...
- and receive ((3.X / 12) * 11)% on 5640 (assuming this is done in March).

Is this completely off the mark?

I'm also concerned now about the ISA I opened with Santander that offered 3.3% for a year. After paying in £5100 in Feb (2010-2011 tax year), and £5340 in Sep (2011-2012 tax year), will I not have gotten the 3.3% on the latter chunk of £5340 that I paid in, even though the "1 year" span of the account runs 28th Feb 2011 - 28th Feb 2012? (I'm aware that it won't really be 3.3% on that chunk because it wasn't in the account for the full 12 months but I was expecting some interest)

Sorry if this has become more of a general ISA question, but I really would like to try and take advantage of the NCBS offer if it makes financial sense! Thanks

blueberrypie

User1234 wrote: »

I'm not sure I follow with the above though. What do you mean by withdrawn? Is this referring to taking the money out? Or are you referring withdrawing the offer

Yes, the provider can withdraw the offer. That's what people mean.

(I've seen you mention in many posts in this thread about it being too good / must be pulled soon)? In this case, won't they honour the agreement with customers who have already signed up

Again, yes - but those who haven't signed up won't be able to, once it's withdrawn. And those who have signed up won't be able to add further contributions - so don't add *part* of your 12/13 allowance to it (because you'll have subscribed for 12/13 and not be able to put the rest of your allowance elsewhere).

Given my Santander ISA drops to 0.5% in 2 days time, I was under the impression that I could:
- transfer right now to a *single* new provider ("subscribe")

No. Transferring is not "subscribing". Subscribing means "paying in new money". You've already subscribed for 2011/12. (Also, you can transfer to multiple providers, as long as you keep the current year's money together. Previous years' money can be split up.)

- move the full balance (10,440 + interest)
- pay in £5640 in April

Yes, assuming the offer has not been withdrawn by then. If it has, you just put your 12/13 allowance elsewhere.

- after 1 year receive 3.X% AER on 10,440 ...
- and receive ((3.X / 12) * 11)% on 5640 (assuming this is done in March).

Yes to all of this, except I believe NCBS pays interest annually on October 1st (this makes no difference to how much you receive, just to when it's added to the account).

I'm also concerned now about the ISA I opened with Santander that offered 3.3% for a year. After paying in £5100 in Feb (2010-2011 tax year), and £5340 in Sep (2011-2012 tax year), will I not have gotten the 3.3% on the latter chunk of £5340 that I paid in, even though the "1 year" span of the account runs 28th Feb 2011 - 28th Feb 2012? (I'm aware that it won't really be 3.3% on that chunk because it wasn't in the account for the full 12 months but I was expecting some interest)

Yes, you'll get about eleven-twelfths of the interest on that second payment, just as you've worked out.

SnowMan

User1234 wrote: »

I'm not sure I follow with the above though. What do you mean by withdrawn? Is this referring to taking the money out? Or are you referring withdrawing the offer (I've seen you mention in many posts in this thread about it being too good / must be pulled soon)? In this case, won't they honour the agreement with customers who have already signed up rather than essentially force them to move elsewhere by blocking deposits? Really couldn't follow that... sorry!!

Apologies I wasn't very clear; I meant National Counties withdraw the offer. If they withdraw the offer then National Counties will honour ISA transfer applications that have already been received for sure.

But what will happen to those applications in the post etc is less clear. It is a generic transfer form so anyone could print one off and send it in. They have no idea who has already printed one off when they withdraw the offer. Perhaps they will they accept forms that arrive within x days of their withdrawal of the offer who knows.

Once the offer is withdrawn by National Counties then they won't allow any one to subscibe new money to their ISA. So come 6th April nobody will be allowed to add their 2012/2013 allowance for example

User1234 wrote: »

Given my Santander ISA drops to 0.5% in 2 days time, I was under the impression that I could:
- transfer right now to a *single* new provider ("subscribe")
- move the full balance (10,440 + interest)
- pay in £5640 in April
- after 1 year receive 3.X% AER on 10,440 ...
- and receive ((3.X / 12) * 11)% on 5640 (assuming this is done in March).

Is this completely off the mark?

I'm also concerned now about the ISA I opened with Santander that offered 3.3% for a year. After paying in £5100 in Feb (2010-2011 tax year), and £5340 in Sep (2011-2012 tax year), will I not have gotten the 3.3% on the latter chunk of £5340 that I paid in, even though the "1 year" span of the account runs 28th Feb 2011 - 28th Feb 2012? (I'm aware that it won't really be 3.3% on that chunk because it wasn't in the account for the full 12 months but I was expecting some interest)

Sorry if this has become more of a general ISA question, but I really would like to try and take advantage of the NCBS offer if it makes financial sense! Thanks

If you transfer the whole lot to National Counties:

You will get accrued interest on your £5,340 from September 2011 to date of transfer (so very roughly 0.033 x 5340 x 5/12 = £73 roughly)

And you will get accrued interest on your £5,100 paid in February 2011 until date of transfer (so roughly 0.033 x 5100 = £168 roughly). To the extent it is not exactly a full year the interest will be adjusted slightly.

So Santander will transfer roughly £10,681 (10,440 + 73 + 168) to Northern Counties and say goodbye to you as they've paid you everthing they owe you.

Once you've transferred you get 3.7% per annum from Northern Counties from date of transfer (you might lose a few days interest during the transfer depending on how they do it) on £10,681 transferred.

You can also subscribe new money to a new ISA (not National Counties which will be closed to new money by then almost certainly) in the 2012/2013 tax year using your 2012/2013 allowance.

SnowMan

Received today a confirmation letter from National Counties to say my application form had been received and the transfer process of my Northern Rock ISA to Northern Counties was under way.

Very impressed with them. They set up my on-line access very speedily, opened my account without any delay and have been very quick to write to confirm it all.

Have updated my previous post setting out the progress of my application here.

10_66

SnowMan wrote: »

...If they withdraw the offer then National Counties will honour ISA transfer applications that have already been received for sure...

No they won't. They'll only honour it if the transfer is completed within a certain "window". When I rang to ask about it, they wouldn't say how big the window was, but Stompa posted earlier this link to their website that said 28 days.

........

SnowMan

10_66 wrote: »

No they won't. They'll only honour it if the transfer is completed within a certain "window". When I rang to ask about it, they wouldn't say how big the window was, but Stompa posted earlier this link to their website that said 28 days.

........

OK fair point, but User1234 had already asked me to keep the explanation simple.

I was trying to get across the simple point that if they had your application when the offer was closed then you could reasonably expect the transfer to proceed. If they didn't have your application when they closed the offer then your application might not be accepted.

There are guidelines (15 working days I think it is) for organisations to make ISA transfers so that unless organisations mess up your ISA transfer, the transfer should proceed if they have the application form.

The exceptions might be for example transfers from accounts with a notice period or a fixed rate account yet to mature (which didn't apply to User1234) that might mean the transfer would take more than 28 days, as the guidance timescales start from the end of the notice period or fixed rate account end.

SnowMan

Now says on the National Counties website

Available for existing customers only from 28 February 2012