Top Cash ISAs Discussion Area

gndalph

Lokolo_2 wrote: »

Here's what it says on the Santander site regarding the Loyalty ISA @ 3.5%

So I would say that you aren't eligible for that ISA based on what you said.

That's what I initially thought but the term "an investment" could mean an existing ISA maybe. I'll ask when I go in next.

Gambit

Baldur wrote: »

You can transfer a Cash ISA to any provider at any time.

There is no 'one Cash ISA rule' as far as ISA transfers are concerned - the rule is that you can only subscribe (pay new money into) to one Cash ISA per tax year.

Hey guys, is this a definite? As I've already opened an ISA this year so I wasnt sure if I could open another Halifax ISA before the Monday deadline in prep for 6th April. Went to a Halifax branch and the staff told me that I could open more than one cash ISA in a given year provided that I didnt pay in more than my year's allowance over the two. Has anyone else done this before? :huh:

ieimimiai

hello, quick question, trying to open santander isa for tax year 2011/2012, filling form out and it says 'You can fund your new ISA account by saving for this tax year.How are you saving for this tax year? *' the gives options of:
- send in a cheque from an account in my name (not sure if i have a cheque book anymore)
-move moeny from my santander savings or current account (dont want to move money from previous ISA so guessing i dont want this option)
-No new savings (not sure what this means if i select it)

So can anyone help me with which i should select please?

Cuidadosa

Well, I don't know the lucky ones of you out there... But as suspected, it wasn't possible for me to open a Santander Cash ISA for next tax year today (Sat 2nd April).

I went to the branch (for the Loyalty one you need to go in person) and the guy told me that they are not opening next year ISAs until next year. Alledgedly because the demand is so high that last year they got all mixed up and it caused trouble so in order to keep things clean, that's what they are doing.

Cuidadosa

Cuidadosa wrote: »

I'll give it a try, thanks!

But I imagine I'm going to be told that my ISA is inactive and needs re-activation. They haven't asked me any details about my current Natwest ISA, so the process doesn't check that it's inactive....

Took my papers to the branch and a lady -who seemed quite clueless about the whole thing- shoved the printed documents in an envelope and said that it would be set up in the next few days...

In retrospective I should have been proactive and asked directly if I needed to re-activate my old ISA, but I actually think that she wouldn't have had a clue of what was I asking about. (She looked at the printed documents and said: you applied online? Wow! It's exactly the same document that we would have asked you to fill in here) ...........

leaphaze

Gambit wrote: »

Hey guys, is this a definite? As I've already opened an ISA this year so I wasnt sure if I could open another Halifax ISA before the Monday deadline in prep for 6th April. Went to a Halifax branch and the staff told me that I could open more than one cash ISA in a given year provided that I didnt pay in more than my year's allowance over the two. Has anyone else done this before?

OK - once you pay cash into an ISA it becomes the ISA for the current tax year, i.e. the current ISA. (You can have ISAs for previous tax years but they don't affect this so let's say no more about them.)

If you discover another provider gives a higher rate of interest and accepts transfers, then you can transfer your current ISA to that provider. The old provider sends your money plus interest to the new provider. The ISA with your new provider becomes the ISA for the current tax year, i.e. the current ISA. The ISA with the old provider lapses.

Therefore, yes, you can open more than one ISA in the current tax year, but you can only pay into the current ISA.

When you open an ISA with a provider, you are not bound to pay money in, but once you do pay money in, the ISA is activated and becomes your current ISA. So you should be able to open an ISA in the last few days of this tax year (even though you have paid into another ISA in this tax year), as long as you don't pay money in until the new tax year. Of course some providers may object to this for some reason, but it is not against the tax rules.

Sorry for the long post but I was trying to cover all angles.

brizey47

I have a cash ISA from the last tax year ending yesterday but it's with Aldermore which was a very good rate last summer and is fixed until the end of a twelve month term which is around August time, as far as I know I cannot add to it, so can I open a new one now with a bank that accepts transfers in then transfer my Aldermore cash in the summer when the times up and their rate drops.

Baldur

brizey47 wrote: »

I have a cash ISA from the last tax year ending yesterday but it's with Aldermore which was a very good rate last summer and is fixed until the end of a twelve month term which is around August time, as far as I know I cannot add to it, so can I open a new one now with a bank that accepts transfers in then transfer my Aldermore cash in the summer when the times up and their rate drops.

Yes you can.

You could also open the best rate ISA now (whether or not it accepts transfers) and open a different one (which does accept transfers) for the Aldermore transfer in August.

brizey47

Baldur wrote: »

Yes you can.

You could also open the best rate ISA now (whether or not it accepts transfers) and open a different one (which does accept transfers) for the Aldermore transfer in August.

Thanks for that but one more question if you don't mind I thought I could only open one cash ISA in any tax year if I opened another in August that of course would be two

blueberrypie

brizey47 wrote: »

Thanks for that but one more question if you don't mind I thought I could only open one cash ISA in any tax year if I opened another in August that of course would be two

You can only *subscribe* (i.e. pay in new money) to one ISA per year. You can *open* as many as you want.

Transfers don't count as "subscribing", as long as you do it with an ISA transfer form.