Dumb ISA question

bobcratchit

Apologies if this seems or IS a dumb question but here goes. Last year I opened my first ISA with Plumb. By the end of the tax year I had invested £20,000. Now its a new tax year can I open another ISA with another provider and again invest £20K? If so, what do I do with the £20k sitting in the old ISA in Plumb? Does it just sit there? 

masonic

Yes, or you can add to the Plum ISA. If you are not happy with Plum's rate, you can transfer that elsewhere (as well as opening an ISA for the new money).

Albermarle

I would suggest if you spent some time reading through the forum you would quickly get up to speed with all ISA rules .

Hattie627

Albermarle said:

I would suggest if you spent some time reading through the forum you would quickly get up to speed with all ISA rules .

You have to admit, though, that the rules are complicated. 

Recently, the government's ISA rules have been less complex and confusing. However these seem to have been replaced with more complex ISA account terms imposed by the ISA providers themselves to cause confusion and trip people up. I read on here of one institution which stipulates that you can't open a cash ISA with them if you have already subscribed to a cash ISA with another institution in the same tax year, despite the government having abandoned this rule.

masonic

Hattie627 said:

Albermarle said:

I would suggest if you spent some time reading through the forum you would quickly get up to speed with all ISA rules .

You have to admit, though, that the rules are complicated. 

Recently, the government's ISA rules have been less complex and confusing. However these seem to have been replaced with more complex ISA account terms imposed by the ISA providers themselves to cause confusion and trip people up. I read on here of one institution which stipulates that you can't open a cash ISA with them if you have already subscribed to a cash ISA with another institution in the same tax year, despite the government having abandoned this rule.

I'd argue the recent rules are more complex and difficult to follow than previous rules, in part because providers are able to override them in some instances (and cannot in others but still do). Savers who just use the cash ISA can no longer rely on their provider to know and tell them how much of their allowance they have available. Flexible withdrawals must now be replaced into the account they came from, but I'm not aware of any provider that reports flexible withdrawals separately from remaining allowance.

Add to that that the cash ISA product itself is more of a minefield. There are now cash ISAs on the market that hold investments rather than cash, with capital at risk. Claiming FSCS protection, but not mentioning it is the protection for investments where investment risk is not compensated. These products are not clearly identified as such and despite raising concerns with the FCA, no action has been taken so far.

bobcratchit

Thanks everyone. Much appreciated. I did read through a lot of material but couldn't find the info I was looking for. But now I have it thanks you!