ISA Help

ihavenoname24

Hi everyone.

I opened an ISA account last August with Northern Rock and now I am confused as to when I can (or need to) transfer to another.

Do I do it now that the interest has been paid? Or wait until 6th April? Or do I have to wait until August after 12 months with Northern Rock.

Much appreciation in advance for any help and advice

bubbles0169

was it a cash isa? you cant open two cash isa's in the same tax year, so if yes, you would have to wait until after thursday
if you want to get a better interest rate after thursday you would transfer your isa to a new bank but see if northern rock charge an early withdrawel fee which could scupper any interest earnings if they do charge then wait until august

psychic_teabag

It depends on the account. If it's fixed-term, you shouldn't transfer it until it matures. (Doing so would probably incur an interest penaly, if it can be done.)

If you've already received interest, I'd guess it's an instant-access account. You can transfer it any time you find a better interest rate available. It might have a 12-month bonus : one case for transferring now is that rates are quite high : there might not be the same rates available in August. (And if you transfer to an instant-access account now, you can do so again in August if you wish.)

I think some accounts have a bonus which is paid on the anniversary, only if the account is still open. I don't think that's common, but it's worth checking - transferring early could lose that bonus.

If you say specifically which NR account it is, someone may be able to give more specific help.

psychic_teabag

bubbles0169 wrote: »

was it a cash isa? you cant open two cash isa's in the same tax year

No, that's not true. You can open as many cash ISAs as you want in a year. You can only "subscribe to" (pay new money into) one per year. You can open more to receive transfers, and you can open more and leave them empty just for the fun of it.

bubbles0169

oh right its just i read martins line(here, second paragraph) to say that

ihavenoname24

Thank you both for the replies.

It is an online E-ISA with NR, interest is 3.05%.

Got the interest paid a couple of weeks ago, and now I have seen Martin recommend a better Santander ISA, so that is what I would transfer to.

I guess what I am worried about is the possibility of an early withdrawal fee. Is there anywhere to find whether it has this?

lisyloo

Is there anywhere to find whether it has this?

Yes, Northern Rocks website.

psychic_teabag

bubbles0169 wrote: »

oh right its just i read martins line(here, second paragraph) to say that

Martin has a tendancy to over-simplify ("dumb down"). If you follow his guidelines, you won't go wrong, but he doesn't always give optimal advice.

eg in the current accounts guide, he talks about minimum salary required to qualify for certain current accounts. That rather annoys me : most of them have absolutely no requirement to pay in salary, but the salary that Martin gives is one possible way of meeting the funding requirements.

psychic_teabag

Unfortunately, now that northern rock has been taken over by Virgin, it's not easy to find information about NR accounts. I don't know if they've been renamed : there's a "Virgin easy access E-ISA" paying 2.85% (no bonus).

It's very unlikely there will be a withdrawal penalty if it's an instant-access ISA : that tends to be for early access to fixed-term accounts. Probably simplest just to phone them to ask, if you are worried. Unfortunately they use 0845 numbers. Or look up the documentation they sent you when you opened the account, which I'm sure you filed away safely

evenasus

I think you have a Northern Rock Online E-ISA which was introduced on 5th August 2011.
There are no penalties and you can transfer whenever you wish.

Here is the product information...chttp://www.northernrock.co.uk/savings/PDF/Online_E_ISA-key_product_info.pdf

To find other previous accounts/interest rates... http://www.northernrock.co.uk/savings/existing/find-your-existing-account

ihavenoname24

Again thank you all for the help, my questions may sound stupid but that was my first ISA.