2011/12 Halifax Isa Saver Direct

studly

Hi,
I'm pretty new to this isa malarkey but last july i openend a Halifax Isa Saver Direct and yesterday i had interest credited but the maturity date is 1st of july. The bit i'm unclear on is customer services said i will receive further interest and can carry on funding the isa up until the anniversary, so does that use the 2012/13 allowance?. If so should i continue or can/should i open a new cash for this years allowance and fund that instead?
Any help greatly appreciated.

MoneySavingUser

yes it uses up your 2012/13 allowance

you can
a) deposit into your halifax isa
b) convert your isa into a new version and deposit your new funds into that
c) open a new account elsewhere and use that for your new funds

as for your old funds when last years isa expires you should either convert it to an account with a better rate or transfer it to another provider

the conversion link is: Halifax UK | Savings Accounts | ISA Options

studly

Your help has been greatly appreciated and thanks for taking the time to reply
Why can't customer services etc make it as easy to understand like you have for less financial savvy peeps like me

psychic_teabag

There is probably also an option (d) open a new ISA at Halifax, if you prefer to keep everything with them.

What rate does your ISA currently get ? If it's not more than is currently available, you may as well redesignate it now (option b above), to reset the bonus period to 12 months.

If you're currently getting more, the decision is a little trickier. You could keep adding to the existing one (option a), but come July, the rates available might be lower than they are now (since this is "ISA season"). Or you could start a new one at the current rates (c or d), but at least then you will have grabbed the current rates and you'll be able to transfer the old ISA into the new one in July.

There is a trick you could do using a partial transfer from old money to reserve a rate now, without commiting to it. But I don't want to over-complicate things for you... Ask if you want more details.

gozaimasu

There have been lots of threads on here for date of the 0.2% reward to be added to the Halifax Reward ISA, saying that you will not get any interest on 5 April 2012 if you opened an account after 5 April 2011. Therefore, you should have been getting ALL of your interest, including the 0.2%, on 1 July 2011, the year anniversary of opening your account.

I think something strange is going on at Halifax. It seems that you have been paid the 3% interest today, and will get the 0.2% (plus whatever other interest you earn on any new deposits in THIS tax year), on 1 July 2011.

studly

Thanks for the replies
The isa was actualy opened in april last year at my branch as a direct reward one at 3.2% but to cut a long story short they "lost" the forms and neglected to tell me for over 2months that there was a problem, they also made a balls up with my ni number on the second attempt:wall:
Needless to say i wasn't happy and when it was finaly sorted it wasn't even the direct reward but the isa saver direct @ 3% so they credited me with a goodwill payment, which as it turns out was more than i would have received in interest anyway lol.I like my savings to be nice and simple and my isa experience hasn't been plain sailing so far but looking at my options i'm tempted to redesignate now seeing as the interest rate is the same inc the new 12 month bonus.
Once again thanks for the replies which have made it much easier for me