Nationwide Help2Buy ISA having already subscribed to ISA

jamiea06

I have an ISA with Skipton Building Society with £20,000 in it. I have used about £10,000 of this years allowance thus far paying into this ISA. I want a help2buy ISA.

**This paragraph is a rant - and can be skipped**
I went to nationwide for info, their site said they'd send me an application form as I wanted to transfer in. I received 5 different forms for different things and had no clue which to complete. Their leaflet says to phone a number for help, there is no option on this number for new customers - had to enter fake account number to get through. Advisor was helpful but didn't sound certain of her advice.

I can transfer my Skipton ISA into a Cash ISA with nationwide - transferring full balance and closing that account.

Once that's done I just open a new Help2Buy ISA and pay in £1200 to open. It will be fine to have a cash ISA and a help2buy both with nationwide. My mum went into branch today and again they were dead nice but the lady wasn't sure either. :-/

Does this advice sound correct? I can't find any info online

colsten

Jamiea06 wrote: »

I can't find any info online

Where have you been looking?

This subject has been covered copiously on here, and on the Nationwide website it says "You can contribute to another Nationwide cash ISA product at the same time, as long as you don't exceed your total ISA tax-free savings allowance each year." http://www.nationwide.co.uk/products/savings/help-to-buy-isa/features-and-benefits

MARTYM8`

My suggestion would be to open up another Nationwide isa product - probably the easiest initially is the instant saver cash isa. This allows you to use their split isa option - clearly you cannot transfer the entire £20k to their HTB isa given the savings limits on that.

You can apply for that online (no need to pay any funds in initially) and ideally then get set up as a Nationwide customer with online banking.

http://www.nationwide.co.uk/products/savings/instant-isa-saver/features-and-benefits

Once its opened - you may need to go into a branch to provide ID though - you can then complete an isa transfer form to move your funds from the Skipton into that account

You can then open up your help to buy isa - and transfer the initial £1200 as lump sum from your instant saver cash isa - all online.

Of course you could get better rates if you invest the funds in a Nationwide flex direct account which pays 5% (or another high interest current account/regular saver). You can always open one of those once you join NW.

I am afraid when you join Nationwide you get lots of letters/paperwork/customer numbers/internet/phone banking passwords - but once they are all set up I find them one of the easier providers to transact with online.

Good luck!

jamiea06

Thanks MartyM8,

I had no idea you could transfer to another ISA once you had subscribed to one in a tax year. I also was lead to believe it would be one "wrapper" so thought it would be like 1 ISA but with 2 sub bits rather than "open 2 isas separately and all will be well".

Thanks again, I'll do that online. :beer: