A dozen ISA accounts - what to do after 6 April 2024

jungleboy123

Hello,

I have a dozen ISA accounts - I keep making a new one every financial year and chipping in whatever i got.

Problem is I'm at a point where there's so many.

With the new financial year coming up, can i just open a new account chip in some monies and then ask to have every single other ISA transferred?

I don't know how easy this is, i know some don't allow transfers any help appreciated.

eskbanker

If you want to consolidate into one, then you obviously need to choose one that allows transfers - many do, but not all, as you've said.  However, how much in total do you have in them, as you'd be best not to exceed the £85K FSCS protection limit with a single institution?

badmemory

Another thought do not make them too large as you don't want to have to completely close one for £50k when you need £5k for a refurb.  So various steps may be a good idea.

Catplan

depending on amounts in them, you may want to put some into fixed say 1 year,  2 year and 3 year, others in easy access, or flexible so you can take out and replace in the same year. You say a dozen so let’s assume 10k in each giving 120, I’d maybe look to reduce to 6 say with so transferring 2 into various fixes, over 1-5 years assuming you won’t need it. I’d then be looking at easyish access, loyalty ISA’s depending where I had accounts…. Potentially S&S for longer term as well.

RobfromCornwall

badmemory said:

Another thought do not make them too large as you don't want to have to completely close one for £50k when you need £5k for a refurb.  So various steps may be a good idea.

Why would you ever need to do that?

As long as you have easy access account(s), you can do partial withdrawals.

(Although, personally, I see ISA money as medium-term, and would always prioritise withdrawing from non-ISA accounts - unless the ISA is a flexible one).

jungleboy123

how do i get all this switched over to one bank? Do i just fill the form and give all the account numbers or is there something more?

boingy

There is nothing wrong with having lots of ISAs but the chances are that some of them will be earning a lower rate than others. Transfers are handled by the "receiving" ISA. If you bank online or in-app there will be an option in there to transfer inwards, otherwise contact your bank however you normally do it. They usually need the sort code and account number of the ISA that is being transferred but some ISAs have a reference number rather than an account number - their website will tell you what you need or ask on here about a specific bank.

It's also worth mentioning that you don't have to open a new ISA each year. You can have just one and contribute to it every tax year (but keep an eye on the interest rates because the banks love luring people in with good rates then lower the rates in later years).

eskbanker

jungleboy123 said:

how do i get all this switched over to one bank? Do i just fill the form and give all the account numbers or is there something more?

Just to be clear, if you want to transfer 12 ISAs then that's 12 forms you need to complete, i.e. one for each transfer, not one with 12 account numbers on it....

jungleboy123

eskbanker said:

jungleboy123 said:

how do i get all this switched over to one bank? Do i just fill the form and give all the account numbers or is there something more?

Just to be clear, if you want to transfer 12 ISAs then that's 12 forms you need to complete, i.e. one for each transfer, not one with 12 account numbers on it....

Ahh what a complexity..... No wonder the rich stay rich when they can afford accountants to do this on their behalf.

jungleboy123

boingy said:

There is nothing wrong with having lots of ISAs but the chances are that some of them will be earning a lower rate than others. Transfers are handled by the "receiving" ISA. If you bank online or in-app there will be an option in there to transfer inwards, otherwise contact your bank however you normally do it. They usually need the sort code and account number of the ISA that is being transferred but some ISAs have a reference number rather than an account number - their website will tell you what you need or ask on here about a specific bank.

It's also worth mentioning that you don't have to open a new ISA each year. You can have just one and contribute to it every tax year (but keep an eye on the interest rates because the banks love luring people in with good rates then lower the rates in later years).

I am pretty sure i opened each isa at the advertised rate, but they are probably all on silly rates now. Hence why i want to combine.

eskbanker

jungleboy123 said:

eskbanker said:

jungleboy123 said:

how do i get all this switched over to one bank? Do i just fill the form and give all the account numbers or is there something more?

Just to be clear, if you want to transfer 12 ISAs then that's 12 forms you need to complete, i.e. one for each transfer, not one with 12 account numbers on it....

Ahh what a complexity..... No wonder the rich stay rich when they can afford accountants to do this on their behalf.

To be honest, you've complicated the situation unnecessarily by repeatedly opening so many ISAs instead of keeping it simple - there's no need to keep opening new accounts every year like that, you can keep paying into the same one* if you're aiming for simplicity!

* unless you were securing fixed rates each time, in which case you'd have been missing out on competitive interest each time they matured