ISAs and transfers

*Steevo*

Hopefully a very basic question but wanted to be 100% sure.

I cashed all my ISAs out a few years ago to buy a house as interest rates were nothing special. Now they've started to rise I have some savings I would like to put into ISAs. I want to keep things as simple as possible as I dislike having 101 different savings accounts.

If I were to open (and put the full amount) into any Easy Access ISA before 5th April, could I then transfer that whenever I wanted (even if that was 6th April) and top that up with a further amount anything up to £20k? Effectively if I wanted it would mean up to £40k into a single ISA, but spread across two tax years which may only be days apart.

I'm 99% sure I'm ok with this, but would rather make 100% sure.

eskbanker

Yes, you can have as many years of annual contributions as you like in a single ISA, the £20K limit is simply what can be paid in during any tax year, rather than constraining overall balances.

Eventually you ought to bear in mind the £85K FSCS protection limit though....

Albermarle

I'm 99% sure I'm ok with this, but would rather make 100% sure.

It is OK, but be wary of trying to add funds too close to the deadline, as some providers have cut off dates and sometimes there can be delays due to ID checks etc

*Steevo*

Thank you, that's great.

On that basis I can open an easy access ISA with a bank I currently have a current account with (Barclays, HSBC etc.) for speed with ID approval etc, and put funds in straight away.

Then next tax year I can pick whichever Fixed Cash ISA inc. transfers is best on the MSE pages and transfer it all across to that.

nottsphil

*Steevo* said:

Thank you, that's great.

On that basis I can open an easy access ISA with a bank I currently have a current account with (Barclays, HSBC etc.) for speed with ID approval etc, and put funds in straight away.

Then next tax year I can pick whichever Fixed Cash ISA inc. transfers is best on the MSE pages and transfer it all across to that.

Why not choose the ISA you really want now then see if you can't open it in a few minutes with electronic verification (which literally takes seconds)?

*Steevo*

nottsphil said:

*Steevo* said:

Thank you, that's great.

On that basis I can open an easy access ISA with a bank I currently have a current account with (Barclays, HSBC etc.) for speed with ID approval etc, and put funds in straight away.

Then next tax year I can pick whichever Fixed Cash ISA inc. transfers is best on the MSE pages and transfer it all across to that.

Why not choose the ISA you really want now then see if you can't open it in a few minutes with electronic verification (which literally takes seconds)?

The plan was to transfer it straight over into a new ISA next tax year, along with an additional deposit. It therefore doesn't really matter which ISA I choose because in a fortnight it will change again.