Barclays Tax Haven ISA 2008/09

LankyMoneySaver

Thought you'd all be interested to know that when I went into branch last week to apply for mine I was told they had taken on more stuff to speed up processing this year and that they had a target of 5 days for writing to confirm the account has been opened.

Based on last year I'll believe it when I see it!

thor

If you have a tax beater ISA(which for whatever reason has not yet been transferred out) and then apply for and get a tax haven ISA in the next financial year, at some point you will have 2 ISAs at Barclays. Now, if you decided to transfer one of them out, is there anyone here who feels 100% confident that they could trust Barclays to transfer the correct one? I know that each ISA will have a different account number but I would not put it past Barclays to mess it up big time considering their reputation for competance.

Dalkirst

Hi guys i saw Martin mention the Barclay's ISA this morning on the telly and wanted to ask something about it.I have 2 Barclay's accounts,just basic current and savings.The savings has about £1300 in it which remains pretty much the same all the time.Should i move this to their ISA account or should i keep both and just open the ISA and move what i can/want?

The thing with the savings account is i use it to have the child benefit,my incapacity and the tax credits paid into which all of i take out when they are paid in.Can i have these paid into the ISA and i think i'm right in thinking you can withdraw money whenever you want from the ISA like i can the savings account?

I'm wondering though as i said if it's worth just opening the ISA and moving some or most of it across and keep the savings then to have the TC etc paid into still?

Also as i know nothing about ISA's could i add money whenever i want like you can take it out up to the £3000?

Thanks and sorry there are so many questions there;)

10_66

bristolleedsfan wrote: »

With Taxbeater ISA, Barclays as of middle of May 2007 allowed those who wanted to add to their ISAs to to do at a branch even if they hadnt received their account opening details.

If anybody has plans to phone Barclays ISA office prior to end of March 2008, could they please possibly ask whether or not that facility will be available immediately at the start of 2008/09 Tax Year for Tax Haven ISA
thus enabling people to make an advance application towards the end of March with minimum deposit and to be able to max fund their ISA on 6th April whether they have account opening details or not. :idea:

I spoke to someone in the Investment dept at Barclays today, and asked if it will be possible to add to account, even without the account number and sort code, and they said yes. If details hadn't come through you could still go into a branch and they'd backdate the interest to when you presented the cheque to them.

bristolleedsfan

Cheers 4 info on paying in additional funds to Taxhaven ISA whilst waiting for account opening details. :T

KitGeorge

So I read all this about the Barclay's Tax Haven ISA - sounded great. I'm not a Barclay's customer, so off I went to a Barclay's Branch to get one for me and one for the wife. Easy, yes? No!
"There's no-one here who can do it for you, you have to have an appointment" Thanks very much but I'll try in the nearest City Branch.
"You'll still have to make an appointment". Okay, I'll phone up and make an appointment. Easy, yes? No!
All branches have the same 0845 number which connects me to a call centre. I explain that I want to speak to the Branch in the nearby City, the Asian lady leaves me on hold for ages ... and then I am cut off.
I try again. The Asian gentleman doesn't seem to want to tell me exactly where he is speaking from, but tells me he knows all about ISAs. Actually he doesn't, so reluctantly says he will put me through to the Branch I want. I get the Branch and a recorded announcement says I should ring the 0845 number if I am not a customer.
Tomorrow I shall drive into the City in my polluting gas-guzzling 4x4 and visit Barclays - I suppose they'll tell me that I'll have to make an appointment and come back some other day.
All this hassle to try to get an extra 0.15 per cent interest? Am I crazy, or what?

bristolleedsfan

KitGeorge wrote: »

All this hassle to try to get an extra 0.15 per cent interest? Am I crazy, or what?

Yip, IMO.

Crabman

Dalkirst wrote: »

Hi guys i saw Martin mention the Barclay's ISA this morning on the telly and wanted to ask something about it.I have 2 Barclay's accounts,just basic current and savings.The savings has about £1300 in it which remains pretty much the same all the time.Should i move this to their ISA account or should i keep both and just open the ISA and move what i can/want?

The thing with the savings account is i use it to have the child benefit,my incapacity and the tax credits paid into which all of i take out when they are paid in.Can i have these paid into the ISA and i think i'm right in thinking you can withdraw money whenever you want from the ISA like i can the savings account?

I'm wondering though as i said if it's worth just opening the ISA and moving some or most of it across and keep the savings then to have the TC etc paid into still?

Also as i know nothing about ISA's could i add money whenever i want like you can take it out up to the £3000?

Thanks and sorry there are so many questions there;)

Hi Dalkirst - when money goes into an ISA, your annual ISA allowance (£3000 this year, increasing to £3600 from 6 April) is used. When you withdraw the money, it has no impact on your allowance - in other words, you don't get your allowance back when money is withdrawn from your ISA.

That's why it wouldn't be a good idea to make regular payments into an ISA if you knew you'd need to withdraw them pretty much straight away. For that you'd be better off keeping the savings account.

For the £1300 in your savings account, that could go into the ISA if you know you won't need it immediately.

The important fact to remember is that when you put money into an ISA, it uses your allowance and you don't get any of that allowance back when the money is later withdrawn.

Megalomaniac

I have just signed up for this ISA, and would say the staff member I spoke to was incredibly pleasant to deal with. Not just grabbing your money and running, but in fact interested in what my other financial circumstances were. Also, he didn't throw a load of stuff my way regarding other Barclays products, but in fact said I have done wisely going to the best deals.

Anyhow, that is now opened for the 2008-9 tax year. I wondered if i should go for a one year fixed rate ISA (Nationwide @ 6.15% or Nationalised Rock @ 6%). Neither of them said I could open up a new ISA with them until next tax year unfortunately, and the girl at Nationwide said the rate will probably be different next year. So instead of waiting (I am in Norway for most of April) I decided to open the Barclays Tax Haven ISA and risk the variable rate. I personally do not believe the interest rates will be slashed as badly as in USA, probably drop, but feel the high variable rate is worth the punt. I wouldn't go for a fixed rate below 6% that's for sure, but think Nationwide would have been good but that's life.

Thought this may help some other's mulling over what to do next.

KitGeorge

bristolleedsfan wrote: »

Yip, IMO.

Well I guess it's only fair to admit to having to eat my words. Despite the hassle of getting into the City and parking, I was able to see a Barclays suit after a reasonable wait. Everything was set up easily, and now I just wait for the paperwork to come through.
All credit where it's due.
PS I had looked at the Dunfermline ISA for 2008/9 but the chap I spoke to (no call centre there thank heavens) was honest enough to quickly advise me that it's a 'savings' ISA .