Halifax ISA Online

kevhenderson

My bonus period is just coming to an end and I would therefore receive the measly interest rate of 0.25%. I rang Halifax and said that I wanted to stay with them , but not on an interest rate of 0.25%. They were very helpful and transferred my account to the ISA Saver Online, which has the same interest rate as I currently receive. I am very happy with this result.

NATCHER

Hope it's o.k. to tag on the end of this but I think I've made a schoolboy error.

Last year I had a Halifax ISA Saver Direct which was at 3%, it's now down to 0.5%. Obviously I'd like to transfer it BUT I've made two £30 payments into it by direct debit this new tax year.

As I understand it, this means I cannot pay into different ISA's in any one year, so can't transfer. Is it worth putting my affordable £30 in this ISA or opening a new savings account?

Does this mean I'm up the ISA creek without a paddle.

psychic_teabag

No, you're fine.

Transferring an ISA does not count as paying in. So you are free to open a new ISA elsewhere and transfer this ISA over to it. You cannot pay any new money into that new ISA until the transfer has gone through. (Because you can only pay new money into one ISA per year, and until the transfer happens, the Halifax one is the current one. "current-ness" transfers with the ISA. It is a bit complicated, but...)

But it's actually simpler than that : you can just ask Halifax to redesignate your existing ISA as a newer model, restoring the 3% interest. Just fill in this form : http://www.halifax.co.uk/savings/accounts/cash-isas/ISAoptions/

psychic_teabag

But just by the way... ISA does not guarantee the best return on your money. Being tax-free gives it a head-start, but if you could get 4% elsewhere, and pay basic-rate tax, you're better off than 3% in an ISA. One possible tactic is to build up your savings in a regular-saver account, paying 4%, 5%, up to 8%, and then move the balance to the ISA once it matures.

For those who already have a lump sum ready to go into an ISA, it's usually better to pay it straight in, but if you will be building up your deposit over time, there are other ways.

EDIT: just to qualify - regular saver is a useful short-term tactic within a tax year, but it's usually to your strategic ( long-term) advantage to use your ISA allowance each year to arrange your long-term savings to be tax-free.

NATCHER

psychic_teabag wrote: »

No, you're fine.

Transferring an ISA does not count as paying in. So you are free to open a new ISA elsewhere and transfer this ISA over to it. You cannot pay any new money into that new ISA until the transfer has gone through. (Because you can only pay new money into one ISA per year, and until the transfer happens, the Halifax one is the current one. "current-ness" transfers with the ISA. It is a bit complicated, but...)

But it's actually simpler than that : you can just ask Halifax to redesignate your existing ISA as a newer model, restoring the 3% interest.

Thankyou very much PT.

I've filled out the online form and after five working days I should be sorted.

Thanks again. :T

cashbag

Online accounts can be closed by visiting a branch but if you try to do this make sure you have some form of major ID with you (passport or driving licence). I visited my nearest (4 miles away) branch yesterday to close 2 old online accounts - one with a NIL balance & one with 24 pence - to tidy up my onscreen list & because I did not satisfy their ID criteria was refused! It had cost me more than 24 pence in petrol & I did not even want to withdraw such a vastly sum - merely transfer it to another account! Bureaucracy gone mad!!

rosy

re redesignating Halifax ISAs - a word of warning.

If you live in Scotland it may be that your Halifax ISA is now deemed to be a Bank of Scotland product.

This has caused a huge hassle for me redesignating my existing ISA (this changeover hasn't been managed well at all - the bank employees don't seem to be singing from the same sheet. I've been getting different advice from Halifax and from BoS, each claiming my ISA was now managed by the other ).Eventually I managed to redesignate over the phone - or so I thought; when I checked online it hadn't been done at all. A phone call to BoS said it had been done and would take 48 hours to show online. A Halifax employee told me it hadn't. This took several more calls to resolve ( apparently BoS employee hadn't filled in forms correctly so it hadn't gone through - of course no-one called me to tell me this); account still showing now as the old one online so will need to keep checking. I've been given a small payment in compensation but it really has been a pain in the neck - and if I hadn't double checked myself to see if it had gone through I'd be sitting with an interest rate of 0.5% all the time thinking it was over 3%.

savemoney

Mine runs out on 17th we have 3 isas different names we got the interest last week but cant work out if its 3% plus bonus 0.2% or not due to paying bits in over the 12 months.

savemoney

Just moved to there new isa as old one reverts to 0.5% today. Moved three different accounts whilst moving 2 and 3rd accounts we have bonus was paid in went back to 1st account not showing bonus and now it is

So now accounts show interest paid plus additional bonus

shezam

Hello! can someone tell me when I shoud switch my ISA? its still showing at 2.6% but i'm assuming it won't be like this forever? I will jsut do the re-designation myself but not sure when to do this?