H2B ISA opening question

anon123456

Hello
I hope i'm not asking a stupid question but I've read the guides and a couple of banks T's and C's and still cant find it

I'm aware of the fact you can open these with £1200 in the first month to maximize the bonus, but does that £1200 have to the first deposit.

Could my wife and i who are both opening one put £10 in say today and on the 31st add in £1190 to qualify?

Thank you

Alexland

https://www.helptobuy.gov.uk/help-to-buy-isa/faq/

Do I have to make the deposit at a certain time during the month

Your monthly allowance is per calendar month. This means, for example, that if you open your account on 28 March, you will have until the end of 31 March to make any deposits up to the first month’s limit of £1,200. You can then deposit up to £200 any time between 1 April and 30 April and in all following months.

Obviously making deposits towards the end of the month is higher risk as an unexpected issue could occur and not be resolved in time.

eskbanker

Perhaps worth bearing in mind that individual providers may have their own Ts & Cs that sit alongside the scheme rules - obviously they shouldn't contradict them but, for example, Halifax insists that the initial deposit is paid in within 21 days of account opening:

You can open this account with between £1 and £1,000. This must be received within 21 days of account opening...

So, if you opened a Halifax HTB ISA today with £10 then no, you couldn't top up the rest of the initial deposit on the 31st (although you could pay in £200 as the first monthly subscription is separate from the one-off £1,000 initial deposit).

No idea what actually happens if you open a HTB ISA with a tenner towards the end of a month and try to top up the rest of the initial £1000 early the following month, as this would comply with Halifax's Ts & Cs while simultaneously falling foul of the official scheme rules....

To be on the safe side, it's probably best to wait until you have access to as much of the initial deposit as you're likely to get and open the account and fully fund it all in one go!