Help to Buy ISA guide

freyae16

Thank you. So you believe you can still pay in. ..she was adamant that. . I couldn't pay the monthly payments only the opening sum because of the previous ISA payments and allowance.
I'll speak to them again this week.
Thank for your help.

MARTYM8` wrote: »

You can pay in up to £1200 in month 1 and then up to £200 in every calendar month afterwards. However with Nationwide only the initial £1200 lump sum can be done as an ISA transfer - the subsequent £200s must be transferred from a savings or current account or over the counter in branch by cash (i.e. any source except an ISA transfer) based on my interpretation of their terms.



Nationwide allow you to make multiple payments in month within these limits - Halifax restrict you to one payment in a month.

No idea why the rules are different - it doesn't help at all.

Maybe the government should have been firmer on the processes with banks only being able to vary the interest rates?

kittywales

Halifax have finally changed things and have allowed me to deposit more than once to bring the total up to the £1,000 max in the first 21 days. This has taken me 2 days to achieve via a long twitter correspondence, and the first couple of options didn't work but eventually I was able to make a further transfer from my Nationwide account into my HTB ISA at the Halifax. I am relieved, but please be aware don't give up at the first hurdle, the Halifax helpline told me only one deposit was allowed though I showed them their T&C's didn't state that. Thankfully it is now resolved, but keep at it. Phew!!

kittywales wrote: »

I opened a HTB ISA yesterday with the Halifax and deposited £100 believing I could top it up to £1000 in the first 21 days. They blocked me from depositing anymore and said only one deposit was allowed.

The govt website F&Q's state that
Q. 'Can I make multiple deposits into my Help to Buy: ISA during a single month?
A. Yes. As long as your provider’s terms and conditions allow it, you can make multiple deposits of up to £1,200 in your first month, and up to £200 in following months.
www help to buy gov uk

I had checked the Halifax T&C's beforehand and they state
'once your ISA is opened you have 21 days to pay in an initial deposit of up to £1,000'

Had the Halifax page stated 'only one transaction allowed' I wouldn't have done it, but I assumed that It could be done in multiples.

I have asked the Halifax if I can add more money or cancel in the 14 day cooling off period and open a new one elsewhere, but am very confused as no-one has answered fully yet, just telling me to ring different numbers which have lengthy queues. I haven't been able to find details on MSE F&Q's so would be most grateful if anyone can help please?

Thanks

MARTYM8`

freyae16 wrote: »

Thank you. So you believe you can still pay in. ..she was adamant that. . I couldn't pay the monthly payments only the opening sum because of the previous ISA payments and allowance.
I'll speak to them again this week.
Thank for your help.

Well the Nationwide terms are confusing.

http://www.nationwide.co.uk/products/savings/help-to-buy-isa/features-and-benefits

It refers to the £200 monthly payments (after month 1) in the ISA transfers section but an ISA transfer isn't listed in the options listed under 'paying money in'.

What I thought you could do initially was transfer the £1200 in in month one from your cash isa and then keep transferring £200 from it every month (which you can do with Nationwide in terms of other ISA transfers online in internet banking).

Maybe you can use ISA transfers for the monthly £200s after month 1 - but it doesn't look like it. You could try to do this online - and see if they let you next month? You could argue that an instant access ISA (flexclusive or the isa saver) is an instant access savings account?!

This might allow you to use prior year ISA funds to fund your help to buy isa - with you earning 2% - rather than ever putting new funds in?

"Transferring in

Transfers are accepted from other Nationwide cash ISAs and external providers. Find out more about transfers.
The £200 maximum subscription per calendar month applies wherever your Help to Buy: ISA is held.[/B]

Paying money in
After the initial deposit, you can pay in up to £200 each calendar month:
Over the counter at any Nationwide branch
By setting up a regular or one-off payment from a current account
Online, if you are registered for Internet Banking, from your Nationwide current account or instant access savings account.
External transfers accepted (eg CHAPS/SWIFT)."

kittywales

Halifax have finally changed things and have allowed me to deposit more than once to bring the total up to the £1,000 max in the first 21 days. This has taken me 2 days to achieve via a long twitter correspondence, and the first couple of options didn't work but eventually I was able to make a further transfer from my Nationwide account into my HTB ISA at the Halifax. I am relieved, but please be aware don't give up at the first hurdle, the Halifax helpline told me only one deposit was allowed though I showed them their T&C's didn't state that. Thankfully it is now resolved, but keep at it. Phew!!

colsten

Very well done kittywales, you are a star. And thanks for coming back with an update.

EmmaO

Its good to know there is the option of a split ISA, but I'm not sure I fully understand it. If I open a split ISA now what happens if I want to transfer the ISAs in the future, would it be possible to transfer the help to buy element to one provider and the cash ISA element to another provider or are the two aspects joint forever?

Apologies if this is a silly question, I just haven't got my head round the split ISA option yet.

Many thanks

DJTM

Does anybody know if the interest earned with the help to buy isa over the 5 year period exceeds £3000, what does the government add?
Also could you leave the money there, keep paying into it and keep earning interest for a long time?

ELMABELLA

Do you qualify to receive the government ISA top up bonus as a first time buyer who does not take out a mortgage and using other savings to purchase a property outright ?

ELMABELLA

Is there an upper age limit for this scheme ?


Also do you still receive the £3,000 bonus if you reach the savings amount required and do not take out a mortgage by using over capital and/or investments to buy a property outright as a first time buyer.

michaels

Would it be fraud if a homeowner claimed not to be to open one of these accounts because they had no intention of claiming the 25% bonus but just wanted to take advantage of the 4% tax free regular saver rates which the banks refuse to offer to other customers?