Cash ISAs: The Best Currently Available List

Sussex_Green_Man

Umiamz said:

Sussex_Green_Man said:

If opening a new Cash ISA, I would advise checking the T&C to ensure you are not agreeing to limit your newly acquired ISA benefits

How would they even know if you've opened another Cash ISA elsewhere? I'd just be ignoring it if it were me.

The person I spoke with at KRBS implied the revenue might withdraw ISA status from my ISA account if it was flagged up in their (the revenue's) system.  But I guess if you're willing to take the risk, you could ignore.

Umiamz

Sussex_Green_Man said:

Umiamz said:

Sussex_Green_Man said:

If opening a new Cash ISA, I would advise checking the T&C to ensure you are not agreeing to limit your newly acquired ISA benefits

How would they even know if you've opened another Cash ISA elsewhere? I'd just be ignoring it if it were me.

The person I spoke with at KRBS implied the revenue might withdraw ISA status from my ISA account if it was flagged up in their (the revenue's) system.  But I guess if you're willing to take the risk, you could ignore.

I think that's very unlikely if you haven't contravened HMRC's own ISA rules! They have enough work to do without unnecessary investigations.

Sussex_Green_Man

soulsaver said:

Sussex_Green_Man said:

I opened a YBS Loyalty ISA yesterday (Sunday).  I then opened a KRBS Easy Access Cash ISA-Issue 48 but before transferring funds into it, I re-read the T&Cs.  There is a clause under the declarations which states

" I have not subscribed, and will not subscribe, to another cash ISA in the same tax year that
I subscribe to this cash ISA;"

Given the law has changed I assumed that this was just a lazy cut and paste job but I phoned and talked to the KRBS helpline today to check.  After speaking with a couple of people,I was told that it is NOT a mistake.  The apparently knowledgeable person that I eventually spoke with explained that although the law has changed to allow multiple Cash ISA subscriptions in a single tax year, KRBS (and a number of other banks & building societies) have not signed up for this with the Revenue and can not, therefore, remove the clause.  Apparently it requires them to make significant changes to their 'systems' which they are not intending to do at this stage.

Given that I had already breached the conditions and will want to open other Cash ISAs, the person I was speaking with agreed to lapse my application.

If opening a new Cash ISA, I would advise checking the T&C to ensure you are not agreeing to limit your newly acquired ISA benefits

Have you got a link to where the specific terms for the KRBS ISA says this? Or point to it here:
426-one-year-fixed-rate-cash-isas-flyer.pdf (kentreliance.co.uk)

The confirmation screen of my application (which I downloaded) includes the following

Terms and conditions
Please note,
The above terms and conditions are the agreement for this account. For your own benefit, it is
important you read these and if you don't understand any part of them, please contact our Customer
Services Team on 0345 120 3223 for further help/information; and
By accepting the terms and conditions, you are declaring that:
1. I apply to subscribe for a cash ISA for the tax year 2024/2025 and each subsequent year until
further notice.
2. By accepting the ISA terms and conditions, I am declaring that:
• All subscriptions made, and to be made, belong to me;
• I am 18 years of age or over;
• I have not subscribed/made payments, and will not subscribe/make payments more than the
overall subscription/payment limit in total to a cash ISA, a stocks and shares ISA, an
innovative finance ISA, and a Lifetime ISA in the same tax year;
• I have not subscribed, and will not subscribe, to another cash ISA in the same tax year that
I subscribe to this cash ISA;
• I am a resident in the United Kingdom for tax purposes or, if not a resident, either perform
duties which, by virtue of Section 28 of Income Tax (Earnings and Pensions) Act 2003
(Crown employees serving overseas), are treated as being performed in the United Kingdom,
or I am married to, or in a civil partnership with, a person who performs such duties. I will
inform Kent Reliance if I cease to be so resident or to perform such duties or be married to,
or in a civil partnership with, a person who performs such duties;
• I agree to the ISA terms and conditions.
I authorise Kent Reliance :
• To hold my cash subscription, ISA investments, interest, dividends and any other
rights or proceeds in respect of those investments and any other cash; and
• To make on my behalf any claims to relief from tax in respect of ISA investments.
3. I declare that this application form has been completed to the best of my knowledge and belief.
Please ensure that you select each of the tick boxes below to confirm that you have read and
understood all our terms and conditions.

Our General Savings Terms and Conditions (PDF)
Our Online Services Terms and Conditions (PDF)
FSCS Information Sheet (PDF)
Our Product Specific Terms and Conditions (PDF)

I have read the Terms and Conditions, the summary of the Privacy Policy and information relating to
registering for Online Services and confirm that all of the information provided by me in this application
are correct.
I have been provided with and read the FSCS information sheet.

Sussex_Green_Man

Umiamz said:

Sussex_Green_Man said:

Umiamz said:

Sussex_Green_Man said:

If opening a new Cash ISA, I would advise checking the T&C to ensure you are not agreeing to limit your newly acquired ISA benefits

How would they even know if you've opened another Cash ISA elsewhere? I'd just be ignoring it if it were me.

The person I spoke with at KRBS implied the revenue might withdraw ISA status from my ISA account if it was flagged up in their (the revenue's) system.  But I guess if you're willing to take the risk, you could ignore.

I think that's very unlikely if you haven't contravened HMRC's own ISA rules! They have enough work to do without unnecessary investigations.

So why do you think the KRBS person I spoke with said this?  Do you think he was turing away business just to cover for their not updating the website?  I did push him about when they might 'sign up' to the revenue's new rules but he was very vague.  As there are plenty of options, I'd prefer not to take the risk so KRBS lost my custom in this instance because of what he said but each to their own.

Malchester

Sussex_Green_Man said:

Umiamz said:

Sussex_Green_Man said:

Umiamz said:

Sussex_Green_Man said:

If opening a new Cash ISA, I would advise checking the T&C to ensure you are not agreeing to limit your newly acquired ISA benefits

How would they even know if you've opened another Cash ISA elsewhere? I'd just be ignoring it if it were me.

The person I spoke with at KRBS implied the revenue might withdraw ISA status from my ISA account if it was flagged up in their (the revenue's) system.  But I guess if you're willing to take the risk, you could ignore.

I think that's very unlikely if you haven't contravened HMRC's own ISA rules! They have enough work to do without unnecessary investigations.

So why do you think the KRBS person I spoke with said this?  Do you think he was turing away business just to cover for their not updating the website?  I did push him about when they might 'sign up' to the revenue's new rules but he was very vague.  As there are plenty of options, I'd prefer not to take the risk so KRBS lost my custom in this instance because of what he said but each to their own.

Banks are allowed to not allow more than one cash ISA being funded with them. That would account for the comment earlier about updating systems being difficult and costly. I was told by Lloyds Bank that they were not implementing the new rule as it was voluntary. However there is no way that any financial institution can force someone not to open and fund a second cash isa with another institution as it is clearly within HMRC rules. 

subjecttocontract

......and therein lies the problem.
Some will stick rigidly to the declaration and others will ignore the declaration in favour of the Governments relaxation of the rules. Rightly or wrongly it's a recipe for total confusion.

surreysaver

Sussex_Green_Man said:

I opened a YBS Loyalty ISA yesterday (Sunday).  I then opened a KRBS Easy Access Cash ISA-Issue 48 but before transferring funds into it, I re-read the T&Cs.  There is a clause under the declarations which states

" I have not subscribed, and will not subscribe, to another cash ISA in the same tax year that
I subscribe to this cash ISA;"

Given the law has changed I assumed that this was just a lazy cut and paste job but I phoned and talked to the KRBS helpline today to check.  After speaking with a couple of people,I was told that it is NOT a mistake.  The apparently knowledgeable person that I eventually spoke with explained that although the law has changed to allow multiple Cash ISA subscriptions in a single tax year, KRBS (and a number of other banks & building societies) have not signed up for this with the Revenue and can not, therefore, remove the clause.  Apparently it requires them to make significant changes to their 'systems' which they are not intending to do at this stage.

Given that I had already breached the conditions and will want to open other Cash ISAs, the person I was speaking with agreed to lapse my application.

If opening a new Cash ISA, I would advise checking the T&C to ensure you are not agreeing to limit your newly acquired ISA benefits

They're probably just repeating what some unknowledgeable manager has spouted without knowing what they're talking about.
If this were the case, the ISA regulations would state you could only do this with certain organisations.
It would also need to be more prominent in the production description, rather than buried in the T&Cs, where we're all going to presume the organisation just hasn't updated the T&Cs

Sussex_Green_Man

Malchester said:

Sussex_Green_Man said:

So why do you think the KRBS person I spoke with said this?  Do you think he was turing away business just to cover for their not updating the website?  I did push him about when they might 'sign up' to the revenue's new rules but he was very vague.  As there are plenty of options, I'd prefer not to take the risk so KRBS lost my custom in this instance because of what he said but each to their own.

Banks are allowed to not allow more than one cash ISA being funded with them. That would account for the comment earlier about updating systems being difficult and costly. I was told by Lloyds Bank that they were not implementing the new rule as it was voluntary. However there is no way that any financial institution can force someone not to open and fund a second cash isa with another institution as it is clearly within HMRC rules. 

The YBS eligibility criteria state

You may only subscribe to one Cash ISA in a single tax year with us.

Which is why I raised the issue with KRBS and asked if their declaration meant just with KRBS. This was the start of the conversation so, in their mind, there was no confusion.

I subsequently spoke to Melton BS later this afternoon and they, too, said that if I subscribed to their Regular Saver ISA that I could not make another Cash ISA subscription in this financial year.  Their 'How do I manage and open my account?' states

• You may subscribe to only one cash ISA in any one tax year

I asked her if this meant just with Melton BS?  I explained that this was at odds with the new legislation so she said she would consult and investigate.  She phoned me back 45mins later to confirm that what she had said was correct.  If I opened their Regual Saver ISA, I could not open any more Cash ISAs in this financial year.

So that was strike two.

subjecttocontract said:

......and therein lies the problem.
Some will stick rigidly to the declaration and others will ignore the declaration in favour of the Governments relaxation of the rules. Rightly or wrongly it's a recipe for total confusion.

I agree.  It's possible that the people I spoke with and their immediate superiors just haven't been given the right information and if it was just one institution it would be easy to dismiss.  But I pressed the issue with both institutions and they were categorical that if I opened a Cash ISA with them, then I couldn't open any more this year.

If I had the time, I might take this up with the revenue but life's too short.

Does someone with more time on their hands want to take this up?

pecunianonolet

The government isn't even able to follow their own interest reporting rules, nor do the financial institutions with some not reporting interest at all (own experience).

Why the heck would HMRC suddenly change course and penalise thousands of people who now read rules have been relaxed and they open accounts here, there and everywhere when that is exactly what the new policy is for.

An institution may decline you to put 10k in an easy access and 10k in a fix, meaning 2 different accounts with them. However, this imho has nothing to do with following the law, this is simply a testament of unwillingness to update or incapable IT systems to handle this. None of the providers is obliged to offer any ISA product in the first place.

Anyhow, the market is large and everyone offering certain products to more or less attractive rates is interested in your cash in one way or another. I have not subscribed any penny of this years allowance yet but should I end up with 20 accounts of 1k each, well, so it be. The law doesn't stop me from doing this.

I guess at the end of the day HMRC will only check that you have not sheltered more than 20k from tax. Also, let's think logically, there are millions of ISA accounts across the country and I am sure there are a) not enough advisors available and b) not enough budget to pay them all, to go through each and every record. If somebody is over or other things are showing suspicious IT will spit out those for manual checks. Everything else will sail through the system just fine. 

The cost to check that all would far outstrip the additional gain by identifying deliberate rule breakers or those who act in good intent but lost it with the many rules and exceptions in place. 

freehugs_2

Re the annoyingly lacking levels of awareness amongst banks about the ISA rule changes, I opened a new ISA with moneybox today, and they do understand the new rules. I was asked to confirm that I'd not subscribe more than £20k across all my cash ISAs this tax year.