Advice on transferring out cash isa at end of fixed term

Heidiho

I’ve got a fixed rate cash isa maturing on 4.4.24 and want to transfer out to another provider. There’s a fee for withdrawing early which I want to avoid. Is the only way of being sure about this to wait until maturity before instigating the transfer, or is it generally safe to begin a transfer a week or two beforehand? Has anyone here been daring enough to risk it?!

refluxer

Has the provider not contacted you about your maturity options, yet ? If not, I would read the account T&Cs and see what the maturity options are likely to be. Most fixed rate cash ISAs default to an easy access or 'maturity' option (from which you're generally free to transfer away without penalty) but some automatically re-invest into another fixed rate ISA of the same duration and it's this latter scenario that you need to avoid.

This often occurs when the provider doesn't actually offer an easy access ISA option (eg. UBL), but there are some providers who do this despite them otherwise having an easy access ISA product (eg, Ford Money). This is why it's important to read the T&Cs (and any maturity information they send you) carefully.

Personally, I always let my fixed rate cash ISAs mature before transferring away and have therefore never had an issue but if you were to open a new cash ISA and request a transfer before the maturity date, there is usually an option to request a transfer in advance but only after the fixed rate period is up.

Eg. These are the two options on the Principality BS's ISA transfer form and, in your case, you would choose the first option to avoid having to pay a penalty... 

• Wait for the full notice period to end or wait until the maturity date XX-XX-XXX before going ahead with this transfer.
• Depending on the terms and conditions, carry out the transfer as soon as possible - I will accept any consequential loss of interest or charges which may be applied.

eskbanker

Transfer forms will often accommodate this scenario by allowing you to specify the maturity date....

amanda1024

Ditto - transfer forms either let you specify a date, or an option like ‘only once it won’t incur a penalty’ (as opposed to straight away)

Heidiho

Thank you all for the replies.

im currently with shawbrook and have received maturity options today. I’ve selected the easy access isa as the cautious side of me was looking to let maturity happen and only then begin the transfer afterwards. I opened a cash isa with Zopa a few days ago and added some new funds; I’m intending to transfer the funds with shawbrook to this Zopa isa. I’ll check out the Zopa forms to see if I can specify a transfer date.