Metro refusing to allow me to pay back in withdrawn funds into my Easy Access Variable Rate Cash ISA

drjchurch

In 2018, as I needed access to my Stocks and Shares Isa funds I transferred it into a variable rate flexible cash ISA with Metro Bank and ever since then I have been adding in 20k extra per year. At the beginning of each tax year I have been withdrawing all of my built up fund in the cash ISA and used them to offset my offset mortgage (as the interest rate was much higher than the interest gained on the ISA), and then at the end of the tax year I repaid all the money back into the ISA thus keeping the tax wrapper intact. Last year my ISA pot had grown to circa 350k. Metro have permitted me to do this every year however yesterday, after checking with them how much I could pay back in this year before the end of the tax year I was told I could only deposit 20k and that none of the remaining 330k withdrawn earlier in the year could be redeposited! They say there has been a glitch in their system ever since the account was opened which permitted me to be able to do deposit previous years funds. They are stating only the current years 20k allowance can be redeposited this financial year, none of the previous years' amount. This has come as a great shock. I see on Moneysaving expert website it states that you can withdraw previous years' amounts (from flexible easy access cash ISA), invest it where ever you like to maximise interest and then repay it to the ISA before the end of the tax year? 

Have I got something wrong here? If this is not sorted in the next couple of weeks  all except 20k of my ISA tax wrapper will be lost.

Thank you for any help / advice.

John

     

 

Rodders53

https://www.metrobankonline.co.uk/savings/products/instant-access-cash-isa/  states
Flex your ISA  Take money out and put it back in the same tax year, as long as you don’t go over £20,000.

They might have changed their 'rules' over the years, and was unlimited before?  You needed to keep up to date with the Ts & Cs if so.

May be worth lodging a formal complaint - if you hadn't been sent the changed T&C docs for example?

drjchurch

Thankyou Rodders53. After 5 differing opinions from staff in branch, including over the phone with the Metro ISA team, they have confirmed that this is indeed allowed and they have therefore permitted the funds to be redeposited. It is a case of staff not knowing the flexible cash ISA rules for previous years deposits. They stated I am the first person they have come across who withdraws the full ISA allowance and then redeposits it before year end! It did cause a significant amount of stress but has come good in the end. Phew. Crisis over. Thank you again for your response.  

eskbanker

drjchurch said:

Thankyou Rodders53. After 5 differing opinions from staff in branch, including over the phone with the Metro ISA team, they have confirmed that this is indeed allowed and they have therefore permitted the funds to be redeposited. It is a case of staff not knowing the flexible cash ISA rules for previous years deposits. They stated I am the first person they have come across who withdraws the full ISA allowance and then redeposits it before year end! It did cause a significant amount of stress but has come good in the end. Phew. Crisis over. Thank you again for your response.  

Given that their terms seem ambiguous, it would be worth clarifying in writing with them that this is definitely not just a one-off concession if you plan to do the same again - either that or transfer the ISA elsewhere, to an account that doesn't mention £20K in the context of redepositing flexibly-withdrawn funds.