Do you have to wait till 6th April 13 to get a new ISA?

Janeybo

Hello
The title says it all! I've had my 2012/13 ISA, it's full and looking for a good rate for 2013/14. Do you have to actually wait till after 6th April to apply for one?

Also it looks like Santander 2.5% is the best easy access at the moment. If you wait till 6th will rates be better?
thank you

ChopperST

Hi Janeybo,

I was under the impression that you could open more than one ISA per Tax year provided you didn't invest more than the total allowance in any one Tax year and was going to open our new ones at the weekend. However the guidance from HMRC is quite clear.

"Q. How many ISAs can I have?
A. There are limits on the number of ISA accounts you can subscribe to each tax year. You can only put money into one cash ISA and one stocks and shares ISA.

But in different years, you could choose to save with different managers. There are no limits on the number of different ISAs you can hold over time."

Taken from - http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/isa/faqs.htm

As for will better rates be available come 6 April? Don't hold your breath while the BOE continues to print money for practically nothing for the banks at 0.5% No bank is going to offer us savers anything near inflation (Its a wonder they are offering anything at 2%!!!)

Hope this helps.

shortcrust

No idea about better rates to come, but you can open a Santander ISA account today and just wait until the 6th to fund it. However, bear in mind that the Santander account only pays the 2.5% for 12 months after the account is opened so if you open today you'll miss out on a bit of interest next April*. I opened a Santander 2.5% account today so I could be sure I could fund it on the 6th. I got the account details emailed to me within two minutes (perhaps it would be slower for new customers?). If I'd known it would be so quick I'd have just applied on the 6th instead.


* Just over a quid I think for me. If I worried about every pound as much as that one my finances would be a lot healthier!:D

psychic_teabag

shortcrust wrote: »

No idea about better rates to come, but you can open a Santander ISA account today and just wait until the 6th to fund it. However, bear in mind that the Santander account only pays the 2.5% for 12 months after the account is opened so if you open today you'll miss out on a bit of interest next April*. I opened a Santander 2.5% account today so I could be sure I could fund it on the 6th. I got the account details emailed to me within two minutes (perhaps it would be slower for new customers?). If I'd known it would be so quick I'd have just applied on the 6th instead.

Come the 6th, if the rate is still available, you could possibly just open a new one, and close (or leave unfunded) the one you've already opened.

psychic_teabag

ChopperST wrote: »

Hi Janeybo,

I was under the impression that you could open more than one ISA per Tax year provided you didn't invest more than the total allowance in any one Tax year

No. The rules actually govern subscriptions (new money paid in), rather than accounts themselves. You can open as many as you want, but you can pay new money into only one during the financial year. (When you transfer, the destination continues to be the only one that can receive subscriptions. I actually prefer the description of the rule as "the current year's subscriptions must stay together" which captures the extra sentiment about transfers.)

Some providers (nationwide, I think) do allow you to split the money between accounts within one year. I think the rules are actually to do with one manager rather than one account, but most providers just allow one account at a time, to keep things simple. I assume that if you did split your money up with nationwide, you'd have to transfer all accounts if you transfer any (during the year).

Janeybo

Hello, and thank you everyone for info. and advice. I'll make a note of it ready for next year, so I don't forget!

I've opened Santander ISA account today and will wait until the 6th to fund it, and see if anything better comes along, prob. not!

alanq

I seem to recall that in previous years some providers offered ISA feeder accounts. You deposited 2 years' subscription. Part went to the current year's ISA and and the remainder earned a decent rate of interest until the new tax year when it was immediately transferred to an ISA for that year. Perhaps this has confused some people.

I have no idea if this still goes on.

Nicholas-bloody-Parsons

The wait is killing me too.

As you are not getting any interest until you put money into it, I cant see the point. 2.5% on a balance of nothing is nothing.

Lets hope you can add money to it past 5th April ?

enthusiasticsaver

I was under the impression you could only open one ISA per year so have learnt something today. I am opting for the 2.8% Santander 2 year (or 3% if you have a 123 account) and was planning to open Saturday 6th April. Anyone know of a better rate anywhere else that accepts transfers in?

Janeybo

The best rate I found, that I could apply for, that does accept transfers in was the Santander 2.5% at the moment. I'm assuming, but have now asked them if they accept money in 6th April onwards. If they don't I'll open a new one.

I've got one ISA for each year, they are with different providers. The confusion I think sometimes comes also because they offer a rate, for example for 18 months, rather than maturing after a year. So I have a Cheshire one from 2012 at 3.35% that matures in Nov. 2013, so I'll leave the money there, but have now opened this new one for 2013. Cheshire didn't accept transfers in.

Janeybo

Nicholas-bloody-Parsons wrote: »

The wait is killing me too.

As you are not getting any interest until you put money into it, I cant see the point. 2.5% on a balance of nothing is nothing.

Lets hope you can add money to it past 5th April ?

I'd imagine that you'll only get interest paid to you 6th April onwards, otherwise you'd be getting interest on the 2012 ISA and at the same time interest on the 2013 ISA. So that you means in effect having 2 ISA's in one year?

I guess that Sanander and others advertise their ISA's prior to 6th april to generate interest for 2013, and get customers who haven't used up their 2012 allowance into their product, if it's a competitive rate.

Anyway my understanding now is that companies are not touting for customers, hence rates under 2.5% for easy access.