Top Cash ISAs Discussion Area

iblametheparents

blueberrypie wrote: »

Read the t&c - here's an example: http://www.barclays.co.uk/Savings/ISAs/CashISAndashLoyaltyRewardISA/P1242580433210



I don't think Barclays is currently offering any ISAs which allow transfers-in, but the above is the standard wording on their t&c.

None of them accept transfers in at the moment, what I meant was when you open an ISA with Barclays, without transferring in, you are forced to subscribe, as the minimum opening balance is £1!

flergalwit

Well, I heard back from a technical advisor who still didn't know the answer and went off to search for it on the web. They seemed to think you couldn't open more than one even without subscribing, but I honestly don't think this was based on anything more than a 3 minute google search. *sigh* I don't blame the people who answer these lines - they're probably being paid the minimum wage - but you'd have thought it possible to actually get an official answer from HMRC on this. I also don't know why HMRC advertise this phone number for "further information" about ISAs if the people they employ answering it basically read back to you what's on the web page.

nadiestar

Hello financial wizards

I have £5200 in an ISA that i set up with the HSBC back in 1999. Since then i've done nothing other than stick money in now and then. I've basically let it roll over from year to year as i bank with HSBC, but they've recently sent me a notice and the interest rate is lousy and we really need to get a better rate on my savings.
My partner and I really need to move house in the next 12 months as we have a baby due next month (March 2012) and we live in a one bed flat and we both need to sort out our savings.

I have my £5200 which i intend on adding to throughout the year. He doesn't have any savings.

So what would be the best ISA for me to move my money to? I hope to save at least £200 per month but ideally i'd be looking at £300pm.

And what would be the best ISA for him to try and save £100 per month min?
Thank you in advance for your help and advice.

dixon-bainbridge

nadiestar wrote: »

Hello financial wizards

I have £5200 in an ISA that i set up with the HSBC back in 1999. Since then i've done nothing other than stick money in now and then. I've basically let it roll over from year to year as i bank with HSBC, but they've recently sent me a notice and the interest rate is lousy and we really need to get a better rate on my savings.
My partner and I really need to move house in the next 12 months as we have a baby due next month (March 2012) and we live in a one bed flat and we both need to sort out our savings.

I have my £5200 which i intend on adding to throughout the year. He doesn't have any savings.

So what would be the best ISA for me to move my money to? I hope to save at least £200 per month but ideally i'd be looking at £300pm.

And what would be the best ISA for him to try and save £100 per month min?
Thank you in advance for your help and advice.

Move your money into the highest paying cash ISA that allows transfers in and does not charge anything for withdrawals. You can then add to that with your regular payments or open a new ISA specifically for your regular payments (most of the top rates don't accept transfers in).

Same advice for your partner.

See the main page on this site for the current list of ISAs or try moneysupermarket etc.

flergalwit

flergalwit wrote: »

Well, I heard back from a technical advisor who still didn't know the answer and went off to search for it on the web.

Update: finally they got in touch with a specialist and rung me again. Their line now is that it's impossible to open an account without subscribing. If you think you've opened an account with £0 then really all you've done so far is "apply", and it's not till you subscribe with a non-zero amount that the account becomes "open". Hence they can maintain that it's against the rules to open more than one cash ISA per year, because opening implies also subscribing.

I still don't believe this is the whole truth by any means, because I tend to believe those who say you can open multiple ISAs and transfer in money from previous years without breaking the rules. There is no way of claiming these ISAs are not really opened, as their balance is non-zero.

But I really didn't feel like pressing this point on the phone as I was not talking directly to the specialist; plus I have no plans on testing this out.

ceejayblue

Last year I put my ISA allowance into an ING ISA but it wouldn't take transfers, so I opened a Nationwide ISA (I already had one from previous years) which was paying a good interest and transferred all my old money into that new account. I wasn't subscribing new money just transferring old money into a new account which Nationwide agreed was OK.

ses6jwg

new top rate instant access, 2year and 1 year fix isas coming very soon, wait until next week before fixing

gunmaker

flergalwit wrote: »

I still don't believe this is the whole truth by any means, because I tend to believe those who say you can open multiple ISAs and transfer in money from previous years without breaking the rules. There is no way of claiming these ISAs are not really opened, as their balance is non-zero.

In my experience when transferring an ISA you don't open an ISA and then transfer cash into it. You complete a form with the receiving Bank/BS giving the details of the ISA you wish to transfer into it. They then apply to your previous Bank/BS for the transfer to take place.

leaphaze

flergalwit wrote: »

Their line now is that it's impossible to open an account without subscribing. If you think you've opened an account with £0 then really all you've done so far is "apply", and it's not till you subscribe with a non-zero amount that the account becomes "open". Hence they can maintain that it's against the rules to open more than one cash ISA per year, because opening implies also subscribing.

I've never seen this interpretation before. Maybe they're backtracking and desperately trying to avoid having to rewrite their terms and conditions.

Cuidadosa

ses6jwg wrote: »

new top rate instant access, 2year and 1 year fix isas coming very soon, wait until next week before fixing

I just went to look my ISAs conditions and saw this 3.30% Santander ISA coming up (applications open on the 12th)