Transfer in to Zopa

Qyburn

Hi,
Anyone done a transfer into Zopa yet, any issues? I already have a Zopa ISA funded from this years allowance. Elsewhere I've two Virgin (exclusive) accounts which together now exceed the FSCS limit, so am considering transfering the smaller one into Zopa.

refluxer

I haven't done a transfer into Zopa so can't advise on that but (just in case you hadn't spotted this) if you're thinking about transferring in and opening different ISA pots, Zopa work a little differently to other providers in that all ISA pots are considered to be part of the same 'Smart ISA' and Zopa don't allow partial transfers out, which has consequences when taking out fixed rate pots of different durations and is therefore something to be aware of - especially when thinking of combining larger sums.

Qyburn

refluxer said:

(just in case you hadn't spotted this) 

Thanks.  So at the momoment I have one ISA "pot" within the account. If i understand correctly the transfer will create a second separate pot. Which is OK, but I think i can combine them. It's not the end of the world if i can't but if that's the case then with hindsight it would have been better to do the transfer first, then pay the new money into the pot created by the transfer.

We'll just see how it goes. 

refluxer

Qyburn said:

refluxer said:

(just in case you hadn't spotted this) 

Thanks.  So at the momoment I have one ISA "pot" within the account. If i understand correctly the transfer will create a second separate pot. Which is OK, but I think i can combine them. It's not the end of the world if i can't but if that's the case then with hindsight it would have been better to do the transfer first, then pay the new money into the pot created by the transfer.

We'll just see how it goes. 

What type of pot do you currently have - Access or Fixed Term ? A Fixed Term pot only has a 30 day funding window IIRC, but you'd have thought that you could transfer into an existing Access pot without the need to create a new one. Either way, it doesn't actually matter whether there are separate pots or not because all pots would have to be transferred away together in future anyway.

This all-or-nothing approach essentially means it's not a good idea to have both an Access and longer-term (eg, 5 year) Fixed Term pot, unless you're willing to accept that your Access money would be stuck in that account for the same 5-year duration (you wouldn't be able to transfer to away separately). If you're only interested in Access pots though, then this is obviously much less of an issue.  

GrubbyGirl_2

I transferred in a small £12k ISA into Zopa.  I opened the fixed term and started the transfer process.  On checking the account there was 2 pots, the 1 year fixed and a "Transfer in" pot at a slightly lower rate (only 0.04% lower).  When the money arrived it went into the transfer in pot and I then moved it into the fixed on the same day.  The transfer in pot is still there so I presume this is the easy access pot.

The transfer went very smoothly and was all done electronically

Qyburn

That's the transfer complete, same day. I filled in the request in the app at 08:00 and the tranfer completed at 13:47. I've merged the two pots and there was a reassuring message that moving between ISA pots doesnt affect annual allowance.

It's all access in Zopa, I have my fixed ISA with Virgin at 5.85%

Madison

I'm unable to transfer into Zopa from a previous tax year.  The app asks me to declare that I haven't used my allowance for the current year, and I have.  Tried updating the app and it still doesn't work.

Qyburn

Mine was previous year. I think I just accepted that declaration since it wasn't relevant anyway. Another glitch was that they asked for a figure even when selecting "full balance", meaning you don't yet know the final figure. 

refluxer

Madison said:

I'm unable to transfer into Zopa from a previous tax year.  The app asks me to declare that I haven't used my allowance for the current year, and I have.  Tried updating the app and it still doesn't work.

Unfortunately, the wording in ISA declarations always seems geared towards those opened with new subscriptions rather than transfers.

If this was a standard ISA declaration, then that part doesn't apply when you're funding it with an ISA containing subscriptions from previous tax years and can be ignored, provided you're not intending to add new subscriptions from the current tax year (if you've already paid into another one).
 
This particular aspect of the confusion around ISAs should cease to be a problem once the rules change on 6th April, as you'll be able to pay new subscriptions into more than one cash ISA from that date onwards.

RG2015

Qyburn said:

That's the transfer complete, same day. I filled in the request in the app at 08:00 and the tranfer completed at 13:47. I've merged the two pots and there was a reassuring message that moving between ISA pots doesnt affect annual allowance.

It's all access in Zopa, I have my fixed ISA with Virgin at 5.85%

I have just opened a Zopa ISA and have requested a transfer from a previous year’s Virgin Money easy access exclusive.

Was your  “same day” transfer from Virgin Money?

RG2015

Following on from my post above, there has been no movement on my ISA transfer. To be fair I would not have expected anything after only 3 days but @Qyburn 's comment got me thinking.

What have been other's experiences of timescales for an ISA transfer from a Virgin Money exclusive (05 sort code) into Zopa?