never had an ISA - help

guestman

ok so with the amount of savings i have now i need to look into an ISA, this tax year ive had 3 updates with my tax telling my ive underpaid, each time i just made the payments rather than take it from next years wage. i want to open an ISA and stick 20k in there, and then next tax year i can then stick another 20k in. its easy enough to google the best paying ones but im more worrid about things like poor customer service, locking my account and not been able to contact them ect. i was honestly just going to open one with one of my current banks, halifax / lloyds / santader, i think i can get a 4% from halifax, which even now i think im only getting that in my savings accounts that im paying tax on so would still be money up by paying no tax.

VNX

Don’t worry too much about customer service, it’s doubtful you’ll ever need it.

also if you look around for reviews you’ll always find people who had issues with all institutions because you rarely hear from people who say I opened an ISA with X nothing went wrong I got my interest and I transferred it when the fixed term ended.

as long as you note down all your log in details tgere is no reason to be locked out.

ive has ISAs with dozens of providers never had any issues. Have a look at the best paying accounts get a feel for their websites ets and go for the highest paying that suits your needs 

guestman

212 trading looks good? but also just been show the  vanguard s&s isa from somebody who says hes doing very well with it

EthicsGradient

One bit of advice: since you're thinking about customer service, that sounds like you want to be able to take money out as well as put it in. If so, then go for a flexible ISA - that allows you to withdraw money, and then put it back it before the end of the tax year, without it counting towards your annual contribution limit. Many cash ISAs are flexible - check the T&Cs to find out.

maman

If all you want to do is put money into a cash ISA to avoid tax then I'd just go for the best current interest rate You can probably apply online and it'll be sorted almost instantly.

I've had loads of ISAs over the years with different providers and only ever had one customer service issue. That was with Barclays where I had to wait ages for an in branch appointment to open in person as I wasn't an existing customer. I found out afterwards that I could have opened a current account online with a few quid and made an online application.

You'll probably open a fixed term ISA online for a year or more which is really simple and straightforward. You won't need any customer service as you won't be touching it. I've also found switching at maturity (or before if you find a better offer) really simple between suppliers. 

dosh37

Reeves is threatening to cut the ISA allowance from 20K to 4K / year  so you may as well spend it before inflation & tax wipes out the interest. I would recommend wetherspoons and/or hookers.

twopenny

You haven't mentioned other Building Societies.

You can get better rates with online accounts or go to one with a bit less but high street where you can get advice. That's good customer service.

A couple of things to think of are where you would like the interest paid into - another ISA? Or a bank account?

And when will the interest be paid. Previously I got the interest annually even if it was a 2yr ISA but slipped up after the pandemic and I'm having to wait.

If you open one in March/April so it finishes in March/April you get the best choice of ISAs and rates because they are all competing at this time the following year. So 18mts leaves you in a sort of limbo when many have closed to lead in rates.

lr1277

Like any savings account you have to decide how quickly you want access to the money.

This article says you can open more than 1 cash ISA in a given tax year as long as you follow the rules.

https://moneyweek.com/personal-finance/savings/isas/multiple-isa-rule-how-it-works 

Beware that ISA rules can change at any time, especially at any given Budget.

But you might put some of your money in a fixed term ISA and some in a instant access ISA, all within the 1 tax year, as long as you don't exceed the 20k subscription limit within that tax year.

Edited to add: I didn't read the whole of the article to which I posted a link. However now having read it, the same points and more that I made in this post are listed.

guestman

the only time ill need the money is if for some reason a house i want to buy pops up and its a once in a lifetime cant miss out. but even with sticking 20k in now and another next tax year i still have plenty of money at hand. i think like mentioned above a flex isa seems to be what could be a good option for me?

i did see the 4k isa thing, but wouldnt that just affect future money going in rather than trying to back track on money people already have in?

Aretnap

guestman said:

i did see the 4k isa thing, but wouldnt that just affect future money going in rather than trying to back track on money people already have in?

The £4K isa things is pure speculation designed to make angry or frightened people click on links, and eagerly seized on by ISA providers to encourage people to pay into their accounts "while you still can". The limit might change in future, as might any tax rules, but it is £20K until it isn't.

Any change to the annual limit would only apply to new contributions going forward. Separately there is occasional chatter about introducing a lifetime limit, ie a maximum total amount that can be held in ISAs. While this would be an eminently sensible policy (there are now poor downtrodden savers who are sheltering over £10 million of tax free money in ISAs), if it were ever introduced it would doubtless be set at a level that someone opening their first ISA now would not need to worry about for very many years.

sammy_zammy

dosh37 said:

Reeves is threatening to cut the ISA allowance from 20K to 4K / year  so you may as well spend it before inflation & tax wipes out the interest. I would recommend wetherspoons and/or hookers.

Source that she’s “threatened” this? Daily Mail headlines don’t count.