ISA Novice - Guidance please on cash in.

Pensioner2b

Hi, I opened 2 x Fixed Rate Cash ISAs in January with Shawbrook, it was my intention to add £20k to one of the ISAs on the 6th April. Just checked the rate and it is 5.01% and I know I could get a slightly better rate of 5.17% with Plum. Couple of questions in my mind. 1. It might take a few days longer than we have to open the Plum account and fund it, so would the end of term be the end of FY25 or would it be the anniversary of the date the account was opened/funded? 2. I have read that I can transfer multiple ISAs into a new one come FY25 but what happens to the Shawbrook one we have currently once it matures in January, does it remain an ISA and transferrable into a new ISA at the start of FY25/26?

Thank you

RobfromCornwall

I'm a little confused.

1.  Did you open and fund two fixed rate cash ISAs in January?  You should not have done, you can only fund one ISA of each type each tax year (currently).

2. Are you sure you can add more money to this/these fixed rate account(s)?  There is normally a funding window of around 30 days.

3. I don't understand your first question at all.  Are you trying to open and fund a Plum ISA before the end of the current tax year?  Your reference to "FY25" suggests you are looking ahead, in which case you have 12 months to fund it...

4. In terms of your second question, are you getting your dates a little muddled here?  When the Sharbrook ISA(s) mature in January 2025 you can transfer that ISA money wherever you like.  That would be in the 24-25 financial year.

I realise that you might be saying "I" when you mean "we", as you use the first person plural at the end of the post.  Remember that ISAs are INDIVIDUAL Savings Accounts. 

Pensioner2b

mCornwall said:

I'm a little confused.

1.  Did you open and fund two fixed rate cash ISAs in January?  You should not have done, you can only fund one ISA of each type each tax year (currently). I opened 2, one for me and one for my husband.

2. Are you sure you can add more money to this/these fixed rate account(s)?  There is normally a funding window of around 30 days. Am fairly certain, I think I read that Shawbrook allow you to add further funds once the new tax year starts.

3. I don't understand your first question at all.  Are you trying to open and fund a Plum ISA before the end of the current tax year?  Your reference to "FY25" suggests you are looking ahead, in which case you have 12 months to fund it... I would be opening it for the new tax year i.e. FY24/25 rather than topping up the Shawbrook ISA in the new tax year. However, I think Plum is actually variable interest so I might stick with topping up Shawbrook.

4. In terms of your second question, are you getting your dates a little muddled here?  When the Shawbrook ISA(s) mature in January 2025 you can transfer that ISA money wherever you like.  That would be in the 24-25 financial year. I was thinking that it would be on hold until the new tax year FY25/26 opens as I probably would have used up the £40k allowance already for FY24/25. I suppose the question is when a fixed rate cash ISA matures, is it still an ISA and therefore eligible for transfer into a new cash isa for FY25/26 when it opens.

I realise that you might be saying "I" when you mean "we", as you use the first person plural at the end of the post.  Remember that ISAs are INDIVIDUAL Savings Accounts. Apologies, I do everything finance in our household but the accounts are one each ISA and one each fixed rate savings with more in mine than my husband's as he is a higher rate tax payer and therefore his interest allowance is lower.


Whilst the rate were so low our savings were in Premium Bonds and the overspill in savings accounts with no danger of the interest threshold being reached. However, we spent pretty much all but a couple of £k on our new (to us) house. So we are now in savings mode in preparation for retirement, hence moving stuff around and of course now taking advantage of the better savings rates on offer.

slinger2

Clearly this product has been withdrawn, but the Key Product Information does say "If the product is withdrawn, you can continue to put more money into your account until the expiry of the fixed term."

Pensioner2b

Slinger2, thank you, I did look at the email I got and it said Deposits can be made into your account until the product is withdrawn. You can check whether the product has been withdrawn by looking at the “Withdrawn Products” section of our website. I could not find the Withdrawn Products section on their website but it wasn't in the list of products available. So no unsure, will give them a call on Tuesday to see if I can add funds to the current ISA on 6th April and still benefit from the fixed interest rate on the account.

soulsaver

Shawbrook is one of only a few recent providers that allow you to add funds in fixed ISAs until the end of the term - up to the HMRC max. Note additional transfers in from other providers after initial application may be refused.

Here is the terms from their current 1 year fix - IIIRC has been in every fix they launched at least since August 2003, Iss80/81.

1-year-fixed-rate-cash-isa-bond-90.pdf (shawbrook.co.uk)

From t&cs on 2nd page, 3rd bullet:

� Please note that the Bank reserves the right to withdraw this product at any time. If the product is withdrawn, you can continue to put more money into your account until the expiry of the fixed term.

slinger2

Pensioner2b said:

Slinger2, thank you, I did look at the email I got and it said Deposits can be made into your account until the product is withdrawn. You can check whether the product has been withdrawn by looking at the “Withdrawn Products” section of our website. I could not find the Withdrawn Products section on their website but it wasn't in the list of products available. So no unsure, will give them a call on Tuesday to see if I can add funds to the current ISA on 6th April and still benefit from the fixed interest rate on the account.

According to their web site (MSE won't let me post the link), issue 86 was withdrawn on 30 Jan 2024. I've got an issue 89 paying 5.03% (also since withdrawn). I'm going to try adding to it after 6 April (maxed out at the moment) to see whether it works. Under the new ISA rules I can add to this and also other cash ISAs (up to the overall 20k ISA limit)