Cash ISA transfer only - without new subscription

Diyanta

Hi,

Are there cash ISA providers that will open a new account without requiring a new subscription, i.e. transfer only? 

The various comparison tables, and even the provider's own websites, typically state "minimum deposit" which could be taken to mean either new money or a transfer in.

Albermarle

Most of them do but often the info they have on their website seems to indicate otherwise, which can be confusing.

What I would do is pick the one you would like to transfer to, and then  read the T's & C's carefully.

refluxer

As mentioned above, the majority of ISA providers do allow transfers-in, in which case you don't have to make a new cash deposit. It's only a few that don't - Marcus is one that springs to mind, but there are one or two others. 

If you check the ISA top tables on MSE at the moment, every provider listed accepts transfers-in. Just note that, with some of them, you have to request the transfer at the time of application.

PerfectChoice

Think this is the right place to post this. I am thinking of transferring my last years cash ISA to another ISA with the same provider but at a higher rate and more limited access, which is fine with me to get the higher rate. So not changing providers but am transferring to a new ISA with that same provider and closing the old one I currently have.

However I have already opened up a cash ISA with another provider which I am contributing to and plan to contribute to this years £20K maximum.

But having already opened up an ISA with another provider and also doing a transfer, which means a new ISA being opened with that provider to transfer into, am I breaking ISA rules in opening 2 ISAs in the same tax year?

Or is that rule for contributing to ISAs in the same tax year only, which I will only be doing to the one I've opened, as the other is just a transfer of last years ISA (currently holding £20K + Interest) into a  better earning interest ISA?

The specific details are that I have an Easy Access Cash ISA with Coventry BS and would like to move that to their Limited Access Cash ISA.  The latter has limited access (6 withdrawals a year allowed) but a much better Interest to the Easy Access ISA (3.5% versus 2.8%). Although not planned, I want the capability to  withdraw cash if I need to so, not going for fixed rate locked in type ISAs. My current contributing ISA is with Yorkshire BS and their loyalty e-ISA at 4.5%.

So my plan is to improve earnings on last years cash ISA holding by moving to a better earning account within Coventry BS, while retaining some ability to withdraw cash if I need to.

But  am I allowed to do this under ISA rules?

refluxer

PerfectChoice said:

But  am I allowed to do this under ISA rules?

Yes, you're not breaking any ISA rules by doing that.

The key thing to remember is that you can open as many cash ISAs as you like but you can only pay new subscriptions from the current tax year into one cash ISA at any one time. 

isasmurf

PerfectChoice said:

But having already opened up an ISA with another provider and also doing a transfer, which means a new ISA being opened with that provider to transfer into, am I breaking ISA rules in opening 2 ISAs in the same tax year?

Or is that rule for contributing to ISAs in the same tax year only, which I will only be doing to the one I've opened, as the other is just a transfer of last years ISA (currently holding £20K + Interest) into a  better earning interest ISA?

You are not opening an ISA; you're opening an account to hold an ISA. An ISA can only ever be opened from the first deposit made in a tax year with money from outside an ISA. If you only transfer an existing ISA and don't make a deposit to the account then no new ISA is opened.  The accounts banks and building societies offer that are called ISAs are not the ISA, they are a means to hold money in an ISA separate from non-ISA money. The ISA is an invisible wrapper around the money in those accounts. You can open an account called an ISA to transfer money in an existing ISA into as many times as you like as this wouldn't constitute opening an ISA.

Think of an ISA as a bag in which the money is placed and the account being the safe in which the bag is placed. What you're doing is asking a bank/BS to take the bag (existing ISA) from another bank's safe (account) and put it into theirs, or in your case you're asking Coventry to move the bag from one safe to another. It's still the same bag (ISA), it's just being held in a different place. 

Albermarle

Opening multiple ISAs of the same type in the same tax year — MoneySavingExpert Forum

ahfat41

Thank you this post has answered my question as well. I had to open an isa with ybs as the rates are higher and then transferred  my existing ISAs into it. I then opened an isa with skipton and completed a transfer form to transfer part of my existing isa to skipton. I was told I am allowed to that as I have not added any funds to any of them. I wanted to transfer my existing isa with nationwide as it allows only one withdrawal to one with nationwide with three withdrawals. I was told I had to open an isa and then transfer internally. My understanding is that you can open as many cash isa as you want but you can only save £20,000 in one. Am I correct? 

sheslookinhot

Yes, but in a single calendar year