Santander 2 year ISA

JonW4rd

Hi all, I have signed up to a Santander 2 year fixed rate ISA at 4%.
No where in the terms can I find out if I am meant to pay into it constantly for the two years and still get the 4% on the lot (two years worth of contributions).

Advise appreciated.

innovate

In the T&Cs, it says: "Funds must be deposited at account opening, unless opened on the telephone or online, where the deposit must be made within 14 days of account opening. No subsequent additional deposits allowed."

Full T&Cs

bigfreddiel

JonW4rd wrote: »

Hi all, I have signed up to a Santander 2 year fixed rate ISA at 4%.
No where in the terms can I find out if I am meant to pay into it constantly for the two years and still get the 4% on the lot (two years worth of contributions).

Advise appreciated.

the t&c's on their web say: "You will be able to view the account online. Please note, during the fixed term transactions are limited to full closure or full transfer out."

that means you open the account and make a single payment and/or a single transfer into the account.

hope that helps

fj

pqrdef

Could be a problem here. If you've paid money into this ISA since April 6th and it's now closed to top-ups, you won't be able to pay any money into a different ISA until next April.

Swipe

pqrdef wrote: »

Could be a problem here. If you've paid money into this ISA since April 6th and it's now closed to top-ups, you won't be able to pay any money into a different ISA until next April.

That's incorrect. The OP can open another ISA and pay in to it, providing they haven't used up their allowance for the current tax year.

ETA. Yes, I stand corrected. Ignore this post.

Millie_Millsters

Swipe wrote: »

That's incorrect. The OP can open another ISA and pay in to it, providing they haven't used up their allowance for the current tax year.

Are you sure? I thought all money paid in during the current ISA year had to be kept together in the same ISA.

So they could only open another one, if they also transferred the money paid into the Santander ISA to the new one then closed the Santander one.

But what do I know, I'm just a little old widow

evenasus

Swipe wrote: »

That's incorrect. The OP can open another ISA and pay in to it, providing they haven't used up their allowance for the current tax year.

From the HMRC website...

Q. How many ISAs can I have?
A. There are limits on the number of ISA accounts you can subscribe to each tax year. You can only put money into one cash ISA and one stocks and shares ISA - one each for cash and stocks and shares.
But in different years, you could choose to save with different managers. There are no limits on the number of different ISAs you can hold over time.

Q. What if I pay into too many ISAs?
A. If, by mistake, you put money into more than one ISA of the same type in the same tax year the payment into the second ISA is invalid, and you are not entitled to any tax relief on investments held in the second ISA.

You should not try to correct this mistake yourself. Instead, you should call the ISA Helpline and explain the problem to them. They will advise you what action you need to take.

innovate

Millie_Millsters wrote: »

Are you sure? I thought all money paid in during the current ISA year had to be kept together in the same ISA.

So they could only open another one, if they also transferred the money paid into the Santander ISA to the new one then closed the Santander one.

But what do I know, I'm just a little old widow

You are absolutely correct, and Swipe's post is quite misleading / incomplete.

However, the Santander ISA in question is the 2-year fixed rate (and fixed term) one. Whilst you could transfer it to another ISA before maturity (01/05/2014), you'd pay a hefty penalty ("On early closure a charge equivalent to 120 days' interest will be applied"), so it doesn't sounds like something anyone would want to do unless they are desperate.

Millie_Millsters

innovate wrote: »

You are absolutely correct, and Swipe's post is quite misleading / incomplete.

However, the Santander ISA in question is the 2-year fixed rate (and fixed term) one. Whilst you could transfer it to another ISA before maturity (01/05/2014), you'd pay a hefty penalty ("On early closure a charge equivalent to 120 days' interest will be applied"), so it doesn't sounds like something anyone would want to do unless they are desperate.

Totally agree, I opened one of these last weekend

JonW4rd

Thanks guys - I was still within my cooling off period so spoke to Santander today and cancelled the ISA. They are going to send the cash I paid into the account by cheque.

The customer services rep told me I would still be able to pay into another ISA this year as it had been cancelled in the cooling off period.

Can anyone confirm this for me?

Thanks again

innovate

Hmh, must admit, I am not sure now - never came across a 'cooling off' period on an ISA before myself. But I think the Santander CS rep is correct - - if your ISA is declared null and void during the cooling off period, you should really be free to open another one for the same financial year.

You might want to confirm this with your local tax office.

When you are ready to have another go, check out what cash ISA might be best for you on Kazza's best cash ISA thread before you take another plunge