UBL ISA Warning

karl10247

Hi All,

I opened a 3 year fixed ISA with UBL in January requesting a partial transfer (all but 100 GBP) from my existing provider.
10 weeks later my funds have STILL NOT TRANSFERRED

Upon investigation I've learned that UBL are incompetent and have put in the transfer request with my current provider "Excluding current years subscription". This means the money i added to existing provider this tax year is not transferred and it LOOKS like the total is insufficient compared to the amount requested by UBL. Hence the transfer request from UBL has been declined ("insufficient funds"). Through multiple phone calls and messages I've explained to UBL to ensure "Include current years subscription" is requested before making another request yet the UBL ISA manageress cannot fathom this.

So I've lost 10 weeks interest so far......

Im considering ringing UBL to close my new (empty) ISA accounts and just move on to another bank. I am concerned though that I may have "used" my 1 opening of a cash ISA for the 2022/2023 fiscal year and i wont be able to open another until the new year (in a few days). I dont want to miss out on this.

Does anyone have any thoughts on this? I have not funded UBL so will i be prevented from opening another cash ISA this fiscal year?


Best Regards

grumbler

karl10247 said:

 I am concerned though that I may have "used" my 1 opening of a cash ISA for the 2022/2023 fiscal year

There is no any limit on 'openings'. The limit is on deposits.

You can deposit only to one ISA or transfer it.

I have an empty ISA in Santander that I opened and not deposited to, but then decided to open another one with Virgin.

masonic

karl10247 said:

Does anyone have any thoughts on this? I have not funded UBL so will i be prevented from opening another cash ISA this fiscal year?

Current year subscriptions must always be transferred in full, so there is usually a checkbox on the transfer form that you must tick if the partial transfer should include all of the current year funds. Providing you have at least £100 (the amount you wish to leave behind) in previous year subscriptions, this can be done.

If you have a retained copy of the transfer request, you could verify your instruction and use this as the basis of a complaint if UBL acted wrongly. In any case, they should have been able to comprehend your follow-up instruction.

You are prevented from opening and funding new cash ISA this tax year, because your existing provider holds current year subscriptions (the ones you are trying to transfer). So currently your only option is to top up this existing cash ISA. Had your transfer gone ahead and completed, you would only have the option of topping up the UBL ISA if they permitted additional deposits (which they probably would not), so in failing to complete your transfer, you might have had a lucky escape with respect to loss of your remaining ISA allowance.

As grumbler points out above, there is nothing preventing you from opening another cash ISA this tax year to receive a transfer from your existing ISA.

Band7

Out of interest, why did you want to leave £100 back in your old ISA?

karl10247

grumbler said:

karl10247 said:

 I am concerned though that I may have "used" my 1 opening of a cash ISA for the 2022/2023 fiscal year

There is no any limit on 'openings'. The limit is on deposits.

Thanks, that's good to know. I read the rules on the MSE ISA page over and over again but still couldn't understand it. The rules are ridiculously convoluted.

"You can only be subscribed to (pay into) one cash ISA with one provider in any tax year – so you can't usually open both a fixed cash ISA and easy-access cash ISA (for example) in the same tax year"

My old Sainsburys ISA has been open for years but i did fund it during this tax year. 

karl10247

masonic said:

karl10247 said:

Does anyone have any thoughts on this? I have not funded UBL so will i be prevented from opening another cash ISA this fiscal year?

Current year subscriptions must always be transferred in full

Thats good to know but shouldnt have prevented UBL from leaving 100 pounds (of previous years subscription) to keep my Sasinsburys ISA open. Now they have transferred the full amount and my Sasinsburys ISA has been closed automatically (not what i wanted).

karl10247

Band7 said:

Out of interest, why did you want to leave £100 back in your old ISA?

To keep my old ISA open, it was a preference thing if i ever needed a flexible ISA open and ready to use

Band7

karl10247 said:

 

My old Sainsburys ISA has been open for years but i did fund it during this tax year. 

If you have any money in there, it is likely to earn a pretty terrible rate and you should consider a new provider. That is, if an ISA makes sense for you at all.

Go to the dedicated ISA forumif you need further information

masonic

karl10247 said:

masonic said:

karl10247 said:

Does anyone have any thoughts on this? I have not funded UBL so will i be prevented from opening another cash ISA this fiscal year?

Current year subscriptions must always be transferred in full

Thats good to know but shouldnt have prevented UBL from leaving 100 pounds (of previous years subscription) to keep my Sasinsburys ISA open. Now they have transferred the full amount and my Sasinsburys ISA has been closed automatically (not what i wanted).

Agreed, this should not have been an issue if you had >£100 in previous years subscriptions in the Sainsbury's ISA.

karl10247 said:

Band7 said:

Out of interest, why did you want to leave £100 back in your old ISA?

To keep my old ISA open, it was a preference thing if i ever needed a flexible ISA open and ready to use

As long as you were aware you would not have been permitted to add money to that Sainsburys ISA during the remainder of 2022/23 (as your current year cash ISA is now with UBL). There's nothing to stop you opening another flexible ISA of your choice at any time for use in the 2023/4 tax year.

karl10247 said:

grumbler said:

karl10247 said:

 I am concerned though that I may have "used" my 1 opening of a cash ISA for the 2022/2023 fiscal year

There is no any limit on 'openings'. The limit is on deposits.

Thanks, that's good to know. I read the rules on the MSE ISA page over and over again but still couldn't understand it. The rules are ridiculously convoluted.

"You can only be subscribed to (pay into) one cash ISA with one provider in any tax year – so you can't usually open both a fixed cash ISA and easy-access cash ISA (for example) in the same tax year"

My old Sainsburys ISA has been open for years but i did fund it during this tax year. 

The rules are not included on the MSE ISA page, only MSE's interpretation of the rules. The passage you quoted is an incorrect interpretation of the rules. It should read "You can only be subscribed to (pay into) one cash ISA with one provider in any tax year – so you can't usually [subscribe to] both a fixed cash ISA and easy-access cash ISA (for example) in the same tax year"

dunstonh

Thanks, that's good to know. I read the rules on the MSE ISA page over and over again but still couldn't understand it. The rules are ridiculously convoluted.

To be honest, they are relatively straightforward and a lot easier than they used to be.   However, some unregulated websites do make a pigs ear of things.