Moving cash ISA to a better provider/rate

25_Years_On

art123_2 said:

I have a 1 year ISA maturing in September 2024 and also a 2 year ISA maturing in November 2024, and I want to transfer them both into the same place when they mature.   I would also like to put up to £20000 in as well for 24/25 tax year.  Is this allowable, can you transfer both maturing ISAs in the same year, along with new money?

Yes that's fine.

art123_2 said:

Also, I only want to transfer the capital from the 2 maturing ISAs, and not the interest.  Am I allowed to do this?

Yes. When you fill in the transfer form you can specify how much you want to transfer. So leave the interest in the old account until the transfer is done and then withdraw the interest and close the old account.

art123_2 said:

My first ISA matures on 30 September, so what is the best way to play this.  I understand it takes around 15 days to complete a transfer,  so am I best to open the new ISA first around 15 September by completing the ISA transfer request, and pay in new money at the same time, assuming it's ok to do that, or should I do it the other way round, by opening the new ISA with my maturing funds first, and then adding new money, or does it not matter.

My second ISA matures on 8 November, so once again, I take it I would need to get in touch around 15 days before maturity to arrange this transfer.

It doesn't matter which way round you do it. However if the new ISA is another fixed rate ISA you are likely to only have a limited time to transfer in or add new funds. So open the new ISA, pay in the new money, and request the transfer at the same time. However the second maturing ISA may well be out the funding window which varies depending on product. 15-30 days is not unusual so you either wait to open the new ISA until sometime in October or just open a second ISA perhaps even with the same provider for the second transfer but no new funds. If it's a easy access ISA then there's no problem.

refluxer

art123_2 said:

I have a 1 year ISA maturing in September 2024 and also a 2 year ISA maturing in November 2024, and I want to transfer them both into the same place when they mature.   I would also like to put up to £20000 in as well for 24/25 tax year.  Is this allowable, can you transfer both maturing ISAs in the same year, along with new money?

How can a 1 year ISA be maturing in Sept 2024 ? Is it longer than 12 months or do you mean Sept 2023 ?

Yes - you can generally pay both new subscriptions and transfers into a cash ISA but, as always, you need to read the T&Cs of any ISA that you're interested in to check this is allowed. Just be aware that there are a few ISA providers who don't allow transfers in (eg. Marcus and Zopa).

You're free to do this whenever you want with an easy access cash ISA but if you're looking at fixed rate ISAs, then some providers only allow transfer requests at the time of application or for a short window afterwards (eg. 2 to 4 weeks).

art123_2 said:

Also, I only want to transfer the capital from the 2 maturing ISAs, and not the interest.  Am I allowed to do this?

If the maturing ISA defaults to (or you choose for it to mature into) a 'maturity' or easy access ISA, then you would be free to make withdrawals without penalty but if you were to transfer directly from one fixed rate to another, then any withdrawal would be subject to a penalty.

art123_2 said:

My first ISA matures on 30 September, so what is the best way to play this.  I understand it takes around 15 days to complete a transfer,  so am I best to open the new ISA first around 15 September by completing the ISA transfer request, and pay in new money at the same time, assuming it's ok to do that, or should I do it the other way round, by opening the new ISA with my maturing funds first, and then adding new money, or does it not matter.

My second ISA matures on 8 November, so once again, I take it I would need to get in touch around 15 days before maturity to arrange this transfer.

If you're looking at taking out a new fixed rate ISA, then there are certain providers who allow you to subscribe to them and/or transfer into them throughout the duration of the fix, but this is rare. If you don't want to be limited to the providers who do allow this, the easiest option would be to open an easy access ISA nearer the time and then you should be free to pay your new subscriptions into it and transfer your maturing fixed rate ISAs into it as they mature. Once the ISA is funded as you see fit, you could then transfer the balance into a fixed rate ISA.

FWIW, I wouldn't do any of this though. IMO, the benefits of keeping subscriptions from different tax years separate outweighs the disadvantages. While combining them might be the easier option from a management point of view, keeping them separate allows you to adopt a 'savings ladder' approach so that 'all your eggs aren't in the one basket' and you can take advantage of the best rates available at the time each fix matures, which can even out any interest rate rises and falls. It also helps to avoid the £85k FSCS limit, which could easily be reached once you've combined 3-4 years-worth of (full) ISA subscriptions.

art123_2

Well spotted Refluxer.  It's actually an 18 month ISA

art123_2

Thanks you to everyone for responding to my comments, it's all been very helpful.