Cash ISAs: The Best Currently Available List

Kazza242

pioneer31 wrote: »

Does anyone know if the Abbey Direct ISA will accept transfers from their 'legacy' ISA accounts? ie Remote Saver?

I think they will. The Remote ISA was a former Safeway ISA I believe. They should allow you to transfer it into the Direct ISA.

GreatGatsby22

Kazza242 wrote: »

Fixed rate mini cash isa's that accept transfers in:
2 Year deals:
[*] Dunfermline BS 6.00% (fixed until 30.06.2009). Minimum deposit: £3,000. Max £24,000. Transfers in requests accepted until 04.05.07 (Internal) and 27.04.07 (External).

Just a piece of paranoia rather than a question; I really like the idea of transferring to the Dunf 6.0% but have never tied up my ISAs for more than 1 year before. Oh for a crystal ball...market collapse? Iran war? Anyone share my nervousness before I take the plunge? Yours, wimpily lol

agal

agal wrote: »

The Barclays Tax Beater cash ISA does not appear to be available to Northern Ireland residents. The Barclays web-site has the following instruction for new customers;

To apply, complete the online form then print, sign and take it into a branch with the necessary identification.

There are no Barclays branches in Northern Ireland.

Just for the record, I found out today that there are two Barclays branches in NI (Belfast and Lisburn).
The site that informed me of this (moneyni.com) also had this to say about Barclays in NI;

You might be interested to know that Barclays is intending to convert all
Woolwich branches in Northern Ireland into full Barclays branches. They
should have a network of nine branches eventually which will provide welcome
competition to the local banks.

I'm in Londonderry so too far to travel for me but may be useful info for other NI mse'ers.

Kazza242

mike33 wrote: »

...i have a 1 year fixed rate halifax isa that matures on 31st march with £3000 in it obviously opened before the current tax year and this current tax year i have a variable rate halifax isa with just £10 in because been withdrawing money from it but i have over £1200 i can still invest in this now reading previous posts i see i can still invest the £1200 plus if i want to by the 5th april or lose it forever(sorry im going on a bit) which i plan to do

You can use up unused parts of your ISA allowance up to the £3K limit, but you can never replace what has been withdrawn. e.g. You open an ISA with £2,000 and withdraw £500 bringing the balance down to £1,500. You will only be allowed to add £1,000, as the £500 that was withdrawn cannot be added back to the ISA.

mike33 wrote:

...anyway im wanting to maybe go over to the new barclays isa to open in new tax year but see they dont do existing transfers or even open a isa somewhere else that accepts existing transfers so what options do i have with these two isas i have here. THANK YOU.

Firstly make sure that when your fixed rate ISA matures Halifax convert it into a Halifax ISA Saver Direct, currently paying 5.30%. If you don't instruct them, they will convert it into a ISA Saver paying just 4.00% for £3K+.

Many providers are accepting transfers in. Good ISAs to consider are Kent Reliance 5.71% and YBS 5.65%. There are a number of good fixed rate ISAs too, like Northern Rock paying 6.01% until 15.04.08. You could open the Barclays ISA from April 6th 2007 for your 07/08 allowance.

Kazza242

GreatGatsby22 wrote: »

Just a piece of paranoia rather than a question; I really like the idea of transferring to the Dunf 6.0% but have never tied up my ISAs for more than 1 year before. Oh for a crystal ball...market collapse? Iran war? Anyone share my nervousness before I take the plunge? Yours, wimpily lol

Yes, I do. I am also very nervous about fixing for more than 1 year, but 6.00% is a very good rate. If you have a large sum of existing ISA savings then fixing some of it while keeping some in a variable rate ISA can be a sensible strategy.

ED

Kazza - this thread is very helpful, thanks, in my case re planning for the fresh Tax Year's Mini Cash ISA. My 2006/07 £3,000 was invested last April. Meanwhile, I'm amongst those now urgently pondering whether to put £4,000 in the current Tax Year into the confusingly titled Stocks and Shares Mini ISA (not Maxi ISA). Wondering whether the fees of HSBC, Halifax, etc, are less elsewhere on the High Street. Anyone have recommendations, please?

gelato_cat

When I opened my NS&I ISA last August it took forever, so I doubt they've even looked at your application yet.

Suze

stuartw101 wrote: »

OK, i have changed my mind again! I have contacted NS&I asking to cancel my request for the direct isa, as i havent confirmed it yet it should be alright.

I have been persuaded to go with Barclays after seeing the most recent posts and reasoning behind choosing them. I will be going to Barclays tommorow and setting one up

I just hope i have made the right choice.

Thanks again.

gelato_cat

Kazza242 wrote:

You're almost correct. Providers don't require you to open a new ISA if you don't contribute to an isa with them in any tax year. You just have to reapply. The funds are then added to the existing ISA balance. I wonder if you misunderstood the part where I said some people can deposit up to £6K(?). I meant the savers who have yet to use their allowance for 2006/07. They could deposit up to £3K before Apr 5th '07 and then deposit another £3K from Apr 6th. They would earn 6.50% on all of it.

No, I read it on the Barclays ISA T&C. I'm not too worried about it as I don't think Barclays will remain competitive

Kazza242 wrote:

I'm not sure, as April 6th falls on Good Friday Barclays won't be open. Barclays' ISA application form allows you to select the year you wish to invest, so I wonder if it might be worth handing the form in before April 6th (say April 5th in the afternoon). There is a slight risk here though, as they may open it for 2006/07. Otherwise, I might go to my local branch on Saturday April 7th to open it.

I've got the added hassle of having to give them a cheque which will obviously take time to clear. Are banks usually open on the Saturday before Easter Sunday?

Kazza242 wrote:

Whenever I open an account I ensure that that's all I sign up for. When you open your ISA make sure you don't accept any marketing via the post, phone etc.

Thanks, I will - although the app form says "if you don't want to receive any !!!!!! from us, you need to write to your main branch or to this address <not a Freepost one>" so I'm not sure they'll opt me out in the branch when I ask them.

Suze

gelato_cat

The longest I've ever dared to fix for is three months, last September on a Halifax websaver at 5.25% - which was good at the time! I'm not really a fan of it as I think interest rates are likely to rise and many of my banks tend to pass increases on in their savings rates (although not all guarantee to).

Suze

GreatGatsby22 wrote: »

Just a piece of paranoia rather than a question; I really like the idea of transferring to the Dunf 6.0% but have never tied up my ISAs for more than 1 year before. Oh for a crystal ball...market collapse? Iran war? Anyone share my nervousness before I take the plunge? Yours, wimpily lol

agal

Suzey wrote: »

When I opened my NS&I ISA last August it took forever, so I doubt they've even looked at your application yet.

Suze

I had exactly the opposite experience - opening the NS&I ISA was the quickest and easiest one I've ever opened (took about 10 min online, using a debit card).