Opening new ISA and transferring in - time limit ?

refluxer

I'm intending to open a 1 Year Fixed Rate ISA with the Principality online by transferring in an old (variable rate) ISA from another provider from a previous tax year, but noticed that for the new account it says "you have 5 business days from the account opening date in which to make your initial deposit" and ISA transfers can take up to 15 days, I believe.

I don't want to pay new cash into this one so is this time limit going to catch me out or will the account only officially open once the transfer is complete ?

Aged

Usually you give the details of the old ISA to the new provider when you're opening the account, and they sort out the transfer from their end.

Albermarle

If you initiate the transfer within the 5 days then it will be fine .

reg091

I opened a new JISA with NS&I in March to transfer in from another. It took THREE MONTHS for them to process! But, the interest rate (higher than the old provider obviously) was honoured from the date I applied.

Growingold

I opened a Principality Online ISA to transfer an existing ISA.  Still waiting over a week later.  I know it's not the fault of the ISA provider I'm transferring from as they completed a transfer within 2 days to a new provider.  Maybe Principality is a bit slow.   Tried ringing them twice about it but phone keeps ringing. 

Malchester

Done the same, opened a WebSave instant ISA with Principality to transfer a maturing Charter Savings ISA into. This ISA doesnt mature until October but as long as they received the transfer request within 5 days thats OK. Have always found Principality excellent for online, customer service etc

Growingold

Just spoke to Principality with regard to my transferring ISA.  Over 5 business days since I opened the Websave Instant ISA no talk of them closing it.  Just be mindful that as I was told just now they request the funds (transferred ISA)  by post so it could take a while. 

refluxer

Thanks all, for your input. Sounds like I just need to give it a go.

Yes - if my experience of transferring a Child Trust fund into a Junior ISA is anything to go by, paper forms by post are often still used even when carrying out an online transfer with certain types of account, because a signature can be required. 

I've seen 15 days quoted for even the more straightforward ISA to ISA transfers, so that's up to 3 weeks I guess.

reg091

refluxer said:

Thanks all, for your input. Sounds like I just need to give it a go.

Yes - if my experience of transferring a Child Trust fund into a Junior ISA is anything to go by, paper forms by post are often still used even when carrying out an online transfer with certain types of account, because a signature can be required. 

I've seen 15 days quoted for even the more straightforward ISA to ISA transfers, so that's up to 3 weeks I guess.

Yes, you have reminded me when I transferred online there was still paperwork in the post. (I could see the new account setup online quite quickly but about a month after that I got paperwork to fill in!). Three months in total.

refluxer

Just in case this is useful to anyone in future, the balance of my ISA transfer from the Nationwide appeared in my new Principality ISA account today so the whole process took 13 days in total (9 business days) which I didn't think was too bad, especially considering the current difficult situation and the fact that paper forms had to be posted.

It was surprising to hear the Principality might have requested the funds by cheque though. I can appreciate that Nationwide would need to see a signature, but I'd presumed the process would be completed electronically beyond that.

Albermarle

refluxer said:

Thanks all, for your input. Sounds like I just need to give it a go.

Yes - if my experience of transferring a Child Trust fund into a Junior ISA is anything to go by, paper forms by post are often still used even when carrying out an online transfer with certain types of account, because a signature can be required. 

I've seen 15 days quoted for even the more straightforward ISA to ISA transfers, so that's up to 3 weeks I guess.

A few years ago 15 days would have been seen as very fast....