Top rates vs convenience and stability

grastgirl

I have an ISA with Harpenden BS at 2.25%, which is a pretty reasonable rate at the moment. I can add new money to it, but can't transfer in, which is fine as everything is currently in the one pot (~£20k).

I'm trying to decide whether to keep going with this one for 2014-15, or open a new one (2.75%) somewhere else, but not be able to transfer it to a decent rate once the initial rate goes down. I used to put in a full years allowance, but probably won't manage it with the new limits.

To be honest, I'm erring on sticking with HBS for convenience. Although, could probably open one online with HSBC, First Direct or Nationwide easily enough.

innovate

2.75% ISAs will have restrictions, such as fixed term / withdrawal restrictions / limited number of deposits / limited amounts of deposits etc.

Have you looked at saving in the top interest-earning current accounts and regular savers, and postponing your ISA decision until next March?

grastgirl

The restrictions on the top rate ISAs is also one of the things that made me think twice about jumping into them.

We did have the first direct regular saver, but I think we used it up for our house deposit and didn't restart it. Will definitely have to look at those again.

I'm not so keen on the current accounts, but may look into it when I have time to set them up with the appropriate DDs etc.