Swapping Isa's advice needed please.

Chez2k

Hi,

I have a question about swapping isa's. I have a bog standard isa with Halifax and want to swap to one wih ing as it has a better rate.

The ing bank doesn't let you transfer in from any isa. If I opened the ing Isa could I just write to Halifax and cancel the one with them? There is nothing in the account.

Thanks
:-)

psychic_teabag

You say there's nothing in the Halifax account. Have you deposited any money into the account since April, and then withdrawn it ? Or have you opened it but never deposited anything ?

The ISA rules govern "subscriptions" (payments into the account) rather than just limiting the balance. So if you had paid in £1000 then withdrawn it, you have still used £1000 of your annual allowance. And more importantly, this ISA is the only one you can use this year, unless you transfer it. (But ING won't accept transfers.)

Accounts tend to have a cancellation window for the first couple of weeks. If you cancel within that time, it's as if you had never opened the account. But if it's been open for a while, you won't be able to do that.

innovate

Dupe thread here https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4252405

Chez2k

The isa has been open for years (trasfered from a childs saving account to an isa when I turned 18 i think).
It hasn't had anything deposited into it for years.

Is the only way around it to open a new isa with a bank that does allow transfers in?

It is a bit confusing.

Thanks.

pqrdef

Just go ahead and open a new ISA. If the old one's got no money in, you can just forget about it. Close it if you want to be tidy, or keep it for a souvenir, or start a collection of old empty ISAs.

There's only an issue if (a) you've paid into the old one this year, or (b) there's money in it that you want to move.