Transfer Cash ISAs Discussion Area

Avatara

Hello. I would like some help please. I though we were able to transfer an old ISA into a new ISA without putting new money in and then open a third ISA to put the new financial year allowance.

However my bank does not let me do that.

I have an ISA account with bank A which accepts transfers, last used in 2009-2010. Last year 2010-11 i opened an ISA with bank B, which has now dropped its rate. What i want to do is transfer the 2010-11 ISA to bank A, but keep the 2011-12 ISA for another bank, bank C, as there are good offers for ISAs that do not accept transfers.

The problem is however that bank A tells me that my bank A ISA account is dormant because it has not been used for 2 years. They say i need a reactivation form to reactivate it, in which i have to state that i will use it for 2011-12 allowance . They mentioned i can not state in the reactivation form that i will be reactivating it for 2010-11, because i have already used my allowance for this year with the other bank. However, if i state i will use it for 2011-12, then i will not be able to open another ISA with bank C.

Is this true? Am i not able to transfer the 2010-11 allowance to bank A and then open a new ISA for 2011-12 with bank C because my bank A ISA needs to be reactivated by stating i will use it for the year 2011-12?

Any advice would be appreciated.

Thank you

SallyG

This reminds me of my daughter's situation with Natwest - she applied to open a cash ISA a couple of years ago but there was a delay in her getting the cash to put in it and the deadline passed. The new tax year ISA deal with Natwest was better so when she got the cash she opened a new ISA with them - she's had a couple of conversations with Natwest callcentre about it - she's told she can no longer put cash in the old empty ISA that much she expected - but although she's tried it looks as though Natwest don't want to let her to close it either, even though it's empty/defunct/dormant.
What's that all about eh?

boobbby

Avatara wrote: »

Hello. I would like some help please. I though we were able to transfer an old ISA into a new ISA without putting new money in and then open a third ISA to put the new financial year allowance.

However my bank does not let me do that.

I have an ISA account with bank A which accepts transfers, last used in 2009-2010. Last year 2010-11 i opened an ISA with bank B, which has now dropped its rate. What i want to do is transfer the 2010-11 ISA to bank A, but keep the 2011-12 ISA for another bank, bank C, as there are good offers for ISAs that do not accept transfers.

The problem is however that bank A tells me that my bank A ISA account is dormant because it has not been used for 2 years. They say i need a reactivation form to reactivate it, in which i have to state that i will use it for 2011-12 allowance . They mentioned i can not state in the reactivation form that i will be reactivating it for 2010-11, because i have already used my allowance for this year with the other bank. However, if i state i will use it for 2011-12, then i will not be able to open another ISA with bank C.

Is this true? Am i not able to transfer the 2010-11 allowance to bank A and then open a new ISA for 2011-12 with bank C because my bank A ISA needs to be reactivated by stating i will use it for the year 2011-12?

Any advice would be appreciated.

Thank you

Each year I open 2 new Isa's giving the best rates. One that accepts transfers and the other that has the best rate for the new tax year. You can only pay into one ISA each year but you can transfer old ISA's into another ISA but not pay new money into that ISA unless it it is the only ISA you open.

boobbby

SallyG wrote: »

This reminds me of my daughter's situation with Natwest - she applied to open a cash ISA a couple of years ago but there was a delay in her getting the cash to put in it and the deadline passed. The new tax year ISA deal with Natwest was better so when she got the cash she opened a new ISA with them - she's had a couple of conversations with Natwest callcentre about it - she's told she can no longer put cash in the old empty ISA that much she expected - but although she's tried it looks as though Natwest don't want to let her to close it either, even though it's empty/defunct/dormant.
What's that all about eh?

Of course you can close old ISA's which have no funds. Silly Natwest !!

leaphaze

Avatara wrote: »

The problem is however that bank A tells me that my bank A ISA account is dormant because it has not been used for 2 years. They say i need a reactivation form to reactivate it, in which i have to state that i will use it for 2011-12 allowance . They mentioned i can not state in the reactivation form that i will be reactivating it for 2010-11, because i have already used my allowance for this year with the other bank. However, if i state i will use it for 2011-12, then i will not be able to open another ISA with bank C.

Go ahead and state that you will use it for 2011-12 but do not pay any money in. You are then free to open another ISA for that year and pay money into it. The ISA is only activated when you pay money in. If bank A wants to play hard-ball with you, you play hard-ball with them.

A few years ago I opened a cash ISA with NatWest and provider transfer info. After several months the money had still not been transfered; the existing provider had not received the transfer instructions from NatWest. The last thing I wanted was to be mucked around, so I just opened another ISA with another provider and that transfer went through OK.

Avatara

Thank you all for your replies. The bank A in question playing hardball is NatWest, so i will go ahead and state i will open a cash ISA for 2011-12 with them to reactivate my dormant ISA, but not pay any new cash in it, just transfer the old ISA. I will then open another 2011-12 cash ISA with a third bank and only pay new money there. Hopefully i will not be breaking any laws doing thet.

jjlothin

boobbby wrote: »

Each year I open 2 new Isa's giving the best rates. One that accepts transfers and the other that has the best rate for the new tax year. You can only pay into one ISA each year but you can transfer old ISA's into another ISA but not pay new money into that ISA unless it it is the only ISA you open.

This sounds like a good idea but, just to clarify, being as I'm a bit slow on these matters!, this would mean something like the following:

• Open ISA1 with Bank A which does not accept transfers but pays 3.5%.
• Open ISA2 with Bank B which does accept transfers but pays only 3%.

Pay any new money into ISA1 only - transfer old ISAs into ISA2.

And presumably there's no reason why you couldn't do the old-ISAs transfer whenever and how often you wanted within a tax year, so long as you never paid anything into it (in that particular year)?

boobbby

jjlothin wrote: »

This sounds like a good idea but, just to clarify, being as I'm a bit slow on these matters!, this would mean something like the following:

• Open ISA1 with Bank A which does not accept transfers but pays 3.5%.
• Open ISA2 with Bank B which does accept transfers but pays only 3%.

Pay any new money into ISA1 only - transfer old ISAs into ISA2.

And presumably there's no reason why you couldn't do the old-ISAs transfer whenever and how often you wanted within a tax year, so long as you never paid anything into it (in that particular year)?

Absolutely right !!

jjlothin

Thank you - one day I'll get my head round the Mysteries of the ISA!

sandspider2000

Just a quick question that perhaps someone has an idea about. I've actually used as much of this year's ISA allowance as I can afford, so I'm wanting to open one for next ISA year. However, should I do this now (and get relatively good rates, as the ISA providers want to get everyone's last minute cash before the deadline) or shall I wait until the new ISA year and look around then? Just wondering if the rates now are likely to be better than the rates on the new ISA crop...

TIA.