Cash ISAs: The Best Currently Available List

fuzzzzy

clairec666 said:

fuzzzzy said:

SickGroove said:

refluxer said:

SickGroove said:

Coventry only gave me 3 options for ISA maturity... ALL FIXED RATE! 

So I've opened both of their easy access ISA accounts they currently have (as mentioned in my previous post) but, unlike other banks such as Charter, neither of them are showing under my maturity options even though they are both open & showing in my account.

That's really poor. You would expect to have all their currently available cash ISAs as maturity options, regardless of whether you currently have one open or not.

SickGroove said:

With Coventry it seems you need to select withdraw under the maturity options where both accounts then appear.

I assume as it's under their maturity instructions, it won't immediately withdraw to the selected new easy access ISA account!!

I would be wary about going down the 'withdrawal' route, whether the ISAs in question are flexible or not. What you obviously want to do is do an internal transfer on maturity to one of their easy access cash ISAs so there must be a way to do this - I've opened many fixed rate cash ISAs with lots of different providers over the years and have never come across an occasion when this hasn't been possible. The only situation I can think of where this wouldn't be possible is when the provider doesn't actually offer an easy access ISA account.

SickGroove said:

Also the 6 Access ISA states...

Can I withdraw money?

This is a flexible ISA. You can take money out and put it back in later without it counting any further towards your annual ISA allowance, aslong as you pay the money back in before the end of the same tax year. If you’ve created a flexible ISA allowance on another ISA, you cant transfer the allowance to 6 Access ISA – 1 Year (2). You can take money out of your account up to six times without having to pay a charge. From the seventh withdrawal onwards (which can include closure), you'll receive a charge equal to 50 days' interest based on the amount you're withdrawing. The charge will be deducted from the balance of the account, at the time of the withdrawal. If you haven’t earned enough interest to cover this charge, some of it will come out of your original deposit(s).

How to take money out of your account

- Arrange an ISA Transfer to another provider, without losing the tax-free status of your savings; contact them to arrange this

So reading that, once the funds are showing in the 6 Access ISA, I can then star the ISA transfer to the provider of my choosing?

It certainly sound like it from the details you posted, which is what you'd expect with an easy access ISA.

Yeah it's pretty poor that the only maturity options Coventry Building Society offer are 3 fixed cash ISAs & if you do nothing, you automatically get put into one of them...

As I say they do offer two easy access cash ISAs but neither available as a maturity option, which is ridiculous.

I've opened both easy access cash ISAs but when I go into the maturity options it still only shows the 3 fixed options but under the withdrawal option the the new easy access cash ISA accounts are both showing...

As the withdrawal option is only available under the maturity section, you would hope that by selecting the 6 Access ISA or standard easy access ISA, it would withdraw upon maturity...

I will certainly be transferring the whole balance out (via ISA transfer process) elsewhere as soon as it hits my easy access Cash ISA.

It's my first maturing cash ISA with Coventry so don't need this palava moving forward.

Not sure if anyone else has had the same experience with a maturing Coventry cash ISA.

I haven't opened a Coventry ISA for a while, but usually when you open an ISA with most providers it will ask at application if you want to transfer an ISA in, and you could have opted at that stage to transfer in at maturity? You could also check online in the newly opened ISAs and see if there is any way to give instruction to transfer in. Failing that just give them a ring.

I agree though Coventry should really offer easy access ISAs as well as fixed rate as maturity options.

Following this thread with interest as I've got a Coventry ISA maturing next year.

Generally I avoid attempting to transfer until after maturity, as I've heard a few horror stories about providers who don't do the "transfer at maturity" thing properly and people have ended up paying an interest penalty for withdrawing before term. To avoid this headache (rare though it may be) I'd rather let the ISA mature into an easy-access even through it will be at a rubbish interest rate for a few days.

Looking at their current fixed rate offer, it says:
"At maturity, the money in this account will be automatically re-invested into the default option unless you have asked us to do something else with it. However, you’ll have the option to take money out or even close your new ISA, without being charged within 21 days after the end of your fixed period."
So you've got a bit more leeway than the usual 14 day cancellation period.

I think sometimes you have to grab good fixed rate offers when they are available though and if you wait for an ISA to mature they may have gone. In that situation I think I would take the chance and go for it, making sure I kept a copy of the transfer instructions showing I had instructed to wait for maturity. If either provider messed up and a penalty was charged I would pursue for compensation.

It can be a worry though and I also usually prefer to wait until after maturity to transfer too. I will probably avoid taking out fixed rate ISAs which mature into another fix by default. I think the Skipton are guilty of this too.

From the Coventry text you have quoted it looks like the easiest option would be to open an easy access ISA with them in the month before maturity and phone them up to request that they transfer the maturing ISA there on maturity. I suppose the only problem would be if they did not have an easy access on offer at the time of maturity, and then you would be forced to open an ISA with another provider with instruction to transfer in at maturity.

clairec666

fuzzzzy said:

clairec666 said:

fuzzzzy said:

SickGroove said:

refluxer said:

SickGroove said:

Coventry only gave me 3 options for ISA maturity... ALL FIXED RATE! 

So I've opened both of their easy access ISA accounts they currently have (as mentioned in my previous post) but, unlike other banks such as Charter, neither of them are showing under my maturity options even though they are both open & showing in my account.

That's really poor. You would expect to have all their currently available cash ISAs as maturity options, regardless of whether you currently have one open or not.

SickGroove said:

With Coventry it seems you need to select withdraw under the maturity options where both accounts then appear.

I assume as it's under their maturity instructions, it won't immediately withdraw to the selected new easy access ISA account!!

I would be wary about going down the 'withdrawal' route, whether the ISAs in question are flexible or not. What you obviously want to do is do an internal transfer on maturity to one of their easy access cash ISAs so there must be a way to do this - I've opened many fixed rate cash ISAs with lots of different providers over the years and have never come across an occasion when this hasn't been possible. The only situation I can think of where this wouldn't be possible is when the provider doesn't actually offer an easy access ISA account.

SickGroove said:

Also the 6 Access ISA states...

Can I withdraw money?

This is a flexible ISA. You can take money out and put it back in later without it counting any further towards your annual ISA allowance, aslong as you pay the money back in before the end of the same tax year. If you’ve created a flexible ISA allowance on another ISA, you cant transfer the allowance to 6 Access ISA – 1 Year (2). You can take money out of your account up to six times without having to pay a charge. From the seventh withdrawal onwards (which can include closure), you'll receive a charge equal to 50 days' interest based on the amount you're withdrawing. The charge will be deducted from the balance of the account, at the time of the withdrawal. If you haven’t earned enough interest to cover this charge, some of it will come out of your original deposit(s).

How to take money out of your account

- Arrange an ISA Transfer to another provider, without losing the tax-free status of your savings; contact them to arrange this

So reading that, once the funds are showing in the 6 Access ISA, I can then star the ISA transfer to the provider of my choosing?

It certainly sound like it from the details you posted, which is what you'd expect with an easy access ISA.

Yeah it's pretty poor that the only maturity options Coventry Building Society offer are 3 fixed cash ISAs & if you do nothing, you automatically get put into one of them...

As I say they do offer two easy access cash ISAs but neither available as a maturity option, which is ridiculous.

I've opened both easy access cash ISAs but when I go into the maturity options it still only shows the 3 fixed options but under the withdrawal option the the new easy access cash ISA accounts are both showing...

As the withdrawal option is only available under the maturity section, you would hope that by selecting the 6 Access ISA or standard easy access ISA, it would withdraw upon maturity...

I will certainly be transferring the whole balance out (via ISA transfer process) elsewhere as soon as it hits my easy access Cash ISA.

It's my first maturing cash ISA with Coventry so don't need this palava moving forward.

Not sure if anyone else has had the same experience with a maturing Coventry cash ISA.

I haven't opened a Coventry ISA for a while, but usually when you open an ISA with most providers it will ask at application if you want to transfer an ISA in, and you could have opted at that stage to transfer in at maturity? You could also check online in the newly opened ISAs and see if there is any way to give instruction to transfer in. Failing that just give them a ring.

I agree though Coventry should really offer easy access ISAs as well as fixed rate as maturity options.

Following this thread with interest as I've got a Coventry ISA maturing next year.

Generally I avoid attempting to transfer until after maturity, as I've heard a few horror stories about providers who don't do the "transfer at maturity" thing properly and people have ended up paying an interest penalty for withdrawing before term. To avoid this headache (rare though it may be) I'd rather let the ISA mature into an easy-access even through it will be at a rubbish interest rate for a few days.

Looking at their current fixed rate offer, it says:
"At maturity, the money in this account will be automatically re-invested into the default option unless you have asked us to do something else with it. However, you’ll have the option to take money out or even close your new ISA, without being charged within 21 days after the end of your fixed period."
So you've got a bit more leeway than the usual 14 day cancellation period.

I think sometimes you have to grab good fixed rate offers when they are available though and if you wait for an ISA to mature they may have gone. In that situation I think I would take the chance and go for it, making sure I kept a copy of the transfer instructions showing I had instructed to wait for maturity. If either provider messed up and a penalty was charged I would pursue for compensation.

Fair point - annoyingly, my ISA matures a tad too late to put it into Natwest's 4.2% fix, and I get the feeling a good rate like that might be hard to find when I need it.

EDIT: Just checked Natwest, and it seems they've extended the 4.2% 1 year fix. Closing date for existing customers is 16th December, last date for receipt of external transfers is 17th December, last date for payments and withdrawals 6th January.

2010

Recently,getting ready for the maturity of my Skipton 1yr ISA fix, I opened their variable base rate tracker ISA @4.16%.
Needless to say when given the maturity options, there were only ISA fixed rates available.
I contacted Skipton by phone and secure message and requested that on maturity they transfer my matured ISA into my base rate tracker ISA.
The day after maturity I checked my account and they had transferred it into their 1yr fixed ISA @3.8%.
I promptly transferred it into my BRT ISA.
Luckily I could do it online without contacting them about it.

After being caught out once by Shawbrook, who transfer it into their "matured ISA" account paying a disrisery 0.10%, I always, on maturity, move it to an easy access account and take it from there.
I assumed (wrongly) Shawbrook would transfer my ISA on the day after maturity to my new provider but it took over two weeks and all I was getting was 0.10% interest.

intalex

2010 said:

After being caught out once by Shawbrook, who transfer it into their "matured ISA" account paying a disrisery 0.10%, I always, on maturity, move it to an easy access account and take it from there.
I assumed (wrongly) Shawbrook would transfer my ISA on the day after maturity to my new provider but it took over two weeks and all I was getting was 0.10% interest.

Soon we'll need a calculator for true "net" fixed interest rates, to factor in this practice...

Gambler

2010 said:

Recently,getting ready for the maturity of my Skipton 1yr ISA fix, I opened their variable base rate tracker ISA @4.16%.
Needless to say when given the maturity options, there were only ISA fixed rates available.
I contacted Skipton by phone and secure message and requested that on maturity they transfer my matured ISA into my base rate tracker ISA.
The day after maturity I checked my account and they had transferred it into their 1yr fixed ISA @3.8%.
I promptly transferred it into my BRT ISA.
Luckily I could do it online without contacting them about it.

After being caught out once by Shawbrook, who transfer it into their "matured ISA" account paying a disrisery 0.10%, I always, on maturity, move it to an easy access account and take it from there.
I assumed (wrongly) Shawbrook would transfer my ISA on the day after maturity to my new provider but it took over two weeks and all I was getting was 0.10% interest.

Thanks for the heads up. Took out my very first fixed rate ISA with Shawbrook a few months back so will prepare myself for next year.

clairec666

2010 said:

Recently,getting ready for the maturity of my Skipton 1yr ISA fix, I opened their variable base rate tracker ISA @4.16%.
Needless to say when given the maturity options, there were only ISA fixed rates available.
I contacted Skipton by phone and secure message and requested that on maturity they transfer my matured ISA into my base rate tracker ISA.
The day after maturity I checked my account and they had transferred it into their 1yr fixed ISA @3.8%.
I promptly transferred it into my BRT ISA.
Luckily I could do it online without contacting them about it.

Lucky you were on the ball - a lot people would assume that their instructions had been followed properly, and wouldn't have realised until after the "cooling off" period had ended.

Pays to assume the worst, I guess.

I don't recall having any such issues with Skipton myself - I had a 1 year fix mature last December, it matured into a not-great-but-not-ridiculously-low-rate easy access ISA, and I was able to do two partial transfers out. Surprising that they don't offer an easy access option on maturity. I think the "default" option should always be easy access, to avoid people being caught out.

Kim_13

clairec666 said:

2010 said:

Recently,getting ready for the maturity of my Skipton 1yr ISA fix, I opened their variable base rate tracker ISA @4.16%.
Needless to say when given the maturity options, there were only ISA fixed rates available.
I contacted Skipton by phone and secure message and requested that on maturity they transfer my matured ISA into my base rate tracker ISA.
The day after maturity I checked my account and they had transferred it into their 1yr fixed ISA @3.8%.
I promptly transferred it into my BRT ISA.
Luckily I could do it online without contacting them about it.

Lucky you were on the ball - a lot people would assume that their instructions had been followed properly, and wouldn't have realised until after the "cooling off" period had ended.

Pays to assume the worst, I guess.

I don't recall having any such issues with Skipton myself - I had a 1 year fix mature last December, it matured into a not-great-but-not-ridiculously-low-rate easy access ISA, and I was able to do two partial transfers out. Surprising that they don't offer an easy access option on maturity. I think the "default" option should always be easy access, to avoid people being caught out.

When I arranged a maturity for a family member recently, the options did include a BRT Tracker - but only a new one, not one that was already open (which would risk it falling into the 3.8% if the product were withdrawn between selection and maturity.)

I suspect maturity is not geared up to allow existing accounts as an option, and the CS will go through the motions to get the customer off of the phone rather than being the bearer of bad news (a process they might agree is poor but that they have no control over.)

Ignore the maturity options and initiate a transfer yourself, selecting 'wait until maturity.' 

gwapenut

2010 said:

Recently,getting ready for the maturity of my Skipton 1yr ISA fix, I opened their variable base rate tracker ISA @4.16%.
Needless to say when given the maturity options, there were only ISA fixed rates available.
I contacted Skipton by phone and secure message and requested that on maturity they transfer my matured ISA into my base rate tracker ISA.
The day after maturity I checked my account and they had transferred it into their 1yr fixed ISA @3.8%.
I promptly transferred it into my BRT ISA.
Luckily I could do it online without contacting them about it.

After being caught out once by Shawbrook, who transfer it into their "matured ISA" account paying a disrisery 0.10%, I always, on maturity, move it to an easy access account and take it from there.
I assumed (wrongly) Shawbrook would transfer my ISA on the day after maturity to my new provider but it took over two weeks and all I was getting was 0.10% interest.

I'd raise a complaint on two grounds - the lack of easy access maturity options, and instructions not being followed. It will compensate for your wasted time, and perhaps over time they may rethink their policy.

2010

gwapenut said:

2010 said:

Recently,getting ready for the maturity of my Skipton 1yr ISA fix, I opened their variable base rate tracker ISA @4.16%.
Needless to say when given the maturity options, there were only ISA fixed rates available.
I contacted Skipton by phone and secure message and requested that on maturity they transfer my matured ISA into my base rate tracker ISA.
The day after maturity I checked my account and they had transferred it into their 1yr fixed ISA @3.8%.
I promptly transferred it into my BRT ISA.
Luckily I could do it online without contacting them about it.

After being caught out once by Shawbrook, who transfer it into their "matured ISA" account paying a disrisery 0.10%, I always, on maturity, move it to an easy access account and take it from there.
I assumed (wrongly) Shawbrook would transfer my ISA on the day after maturity to my new provider but it took over two weeks and all I was getting was 0.10% interest.

I'd raise a complaint on two grounds - the lack of easy access maturity options, and instructions not being followed. It will compensate for your wasted time, and perhaps over time they may rethink their policy.

Your first point: Is valid.

Second point: I may have been too quick doing the transfer myself as it was a Saturday.
They could argue that it would have been done on Monday the first business day.

If I thought they had cost me anything I wouldn't hesitate to complain.

pecunianonolet

HL Cash ISA 4.55% (open to all it seems)

https://www.hl.co.uk/investment-services/isa-accounts

Cash ISA: https://www.hl.co.uk/savings/cash-isa

No transfer in of cash ISA's, current year subscription only, non flexible. 



With the above it should be possible but probably rather convulted and not without risk to move from an existing cash ISA with your current provider to a provider that accepts cash ISA transfers in to a S&S ISA and onwards to HL and from HL S&S ISA into HL Cash ISA. 

Explained in more detail here: https://www.hl.co.uk/savings/cash-isa/cash-isa-transfers