Cash ISAs: The Best Currently Available List

typistretired

Coventry Fixed Rate ISA (28) maturing 31.05.2016 Annual (rate 2.50%) is being replaced by Coventry Fixed ISA (36) (rate 2.15%) fixed until 31 May 2017. This rate now matches their ISA Reward which dropped 1st July 2015.

Stompa

typistretired wrote: »

Coventry Fixed Rate ISA (28) maturing 31.05.2016 Annual (rate 2.50%) is being replaced by Coventry Fixed ISA (36) (rate 2.15%) fixed until 31 May 2017. This rate now matches their ISA Reward which dropped 1st July 2015.

Presumably this is not available to new customers or those who don't have the Coventry Fixed Rate ISA (28) product?

Consumerist

Stompa wrote: »

Presumably this is not available to new customers or those who don't have the Coventry Fixed Rate ISA (28) product?

It's not unknown for Coventry BS to have "secret" accounts but it may be possible to open one in branch.

See <This Is Money article - May 2014>.

superstar_2

eskbanker wrote: »

You can open as many ISAs as you like of any type any tax year! The rule is (essentially) that you cannot contribute new money into more than one cash ISA (including HTB ISAs) in any given tax year unless they're both with one of the small number of providers who use the split ISA concept (listed within the main MSE cash ISA article) to accommodate this.

I have narrowed it down to FirstDirect or M&S now.

Would I be able to open a new account and purely transfer old money into them and open a new help to but ISA elsewhere and fund new cash?

Thank you.

eskbanker

superstar wrote: »

I have narrowed it down to FirstDirect or M&S now.

Would I be able to open a new account and purely transfer old money into them and open a new help to but ISA elsewhere and fund new cash?

Yes, you can open a new cash ISA and use it only for transfers while also separately opening an HTB ISA for new money.

Two caveats - (1) you can only do that if the new non-HTB ISA accepts transfers in and (2) worth checking if it's actually worth putting that money into cash ISAs anyway as chances are you'd get better returns elsewhere, see http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/savings/which-saving-account for details.

mary

Just tried to arrange for a transfer to be told that it was withdrawn on Monday this week.

superstar_2

eskbanker wrote: »

Yes, you can open a new cash ISA and use it only for transfers while also separately opening an HTB ISA for new money.

Two caveats - (1) you can only do that if the new non-HTB ISA accepts transfers in and (2) worth checking if it's actually worth putting that money into cash ISAs anyway as chances are you'd get better returns elsewhere, see http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/savings/which-saving-account for details.

Re: (2)

Some current accounts do offer better rates at present but moving the cash from ISA into current accounts means I will lose my ISA allowance that accumulated over years - thoughts?

eskbanker

superstar wrote: »

Some current accounts do offer better rates at present but moving the cash from ISA into current accounts means I will lose my ISA allowance that accumulated over years - thoughts?

It depends on the accumulated value and what you have in mind for the money - if it's, say, £20-30K then it wouldn't take that long to replenish this into cash ISAs in future years if you chose to do so, or you can even do this temporarily under the new flexible ISA regime.

If it's, say, £50K or significantly north of that, then you might want to consider whether you need to have all that readily accessible in cash form or if going into S&S ISAs is more appropriate for longer term growth.

With the decline in cash ISA interest rates and the proliferation of interest-paying current accounts, cash ISAs have been a poor choice for several years now, and the recent introduction of the personal savings allowance has exacerbated the effect, so there are very few for whom cash ISAs are now the best answer (excluding HTB). It's not completely black and white though, there are some counter-arguments put forward at http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/savings/is-the-cash-ISA-dead, you may feel some of these have merit....

Stompa

Consumerist wrote: »

It's not unknown for Coventry BS to have "secret" accounts but it may be possible to open one in branch.

See <This Is Money article - May 2014>.

Thanks, that sounds intriguing. Sadly there are no branches nearby though.

namecheck

Stompa wrote: »

Presumably this is not available to new customers or those who don't have the Coventry Fixed Rate ISA (28) product?

It does seem to apply only to fixed term ISA's which mature this month (and not available- I don't think - to existing Coventry customers with other accounts.