Which ISA?

[NicolaUK]

Why are ISA's so confusing? I'm looking to take out a new ISA and was wondering what the best deal is for my needs? I'm looking for a good rate with instant access, online managed and good customer service.

I currently have an Icesave ISA but after the past weeks madness in finance, I'm starting to get slightly concerned that they're not as safe as a UK bank. I may also be looking for a new ISA which allows transfers in although I get the impression that this can take ages.

[CURLYSUE]

If you must have an ISA at the Moment Cash ISA's are the best option, I would not advise a share one based on the current state or the markets also I would go for one from one of the Biggys. Nationwide , Barclays etc.

[cjanderson]

is your icesave one just for this years funds or previous years?

Not all isa's allowa transfers in, so if it was just last years funds in icesave, you could open a new one for 08/09. Else you will have to put any new money into icesave and move the lot.

took most people about 1 month to transfer an isa, but this was around 6th April and was a very popular deal so its probably quicker now. Though 1 month is what they all promise it will take - you don't lose any interest though, bar about 3 days when the money moves from 1 bank to another so its not that bad.

currently the top isas are baclays - 6.25% which includes 1% bonus for a year and hsbc 6.25% (only for hsbc current account holders)

[AmazingTate]

I have an ISA with natwest which added to monthly by standing order, that i can transfer to and from any other account and which is easily managed with my online banking, although in all fairness the money never stays in there long enough to actually call it an isa :|

[NicolaUK]

I have last years ISA but nothing so far this year. The HSBC one looks good but I'm not already an account holder and I've had problems in the past with Barclays. Abbey and The Principality BS both have 6% deals but I have no idea about their customer service, which in all fairness to Icesave has been very good and their online banking is excellent.

And yes, I'm after a cash ISA, S&S ISA's are too risky for me the current market.

[roddy]

Are you concerned that you aren't protected, or do you just not want the hassle of having to claim if they do collapse? I'd be surprised if you aren't protected, although you may need to get part of the money back from the Icelandic authorities.

[cjanderson]

There is a wanring that accounts like icesave are slightly riskier than uk ones, but its just a small risk. I have a few k in an similar ICICI account.

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/savings/safe-savings

With the isa's, the customer services is usually only tested at the set up and closure, i know i've just set it up and then left it alone until its transferred. Barclays one can be opened online if you already have an online account with them. They all get crap customer service ratings for opening isas's as everyone tends to go for the top few at the same time of year, this time of year there should be no problems.

[farmroad38]

There is a slightly greater risk with Icesave, as I don't believe that they are signed up to the UK compensation scheme. However, they are signed up to the Icelandic equivalent - just means if they went tits up, you'd be writing to someone different to get back your cash.

I'm looking for a new ISA too - got to transfer last year's cash from Ing Direct, as it only had a good rate for the first 6 months. I was thinking of transferring mine into Icesave, as it's one of the few where the rate doesn't include a short term bonus to bump the rate up.

[pyrogena]

Can I semi-hijack and ask a potentially dumb question?

I know you're only allowed to put in £3,600 per tax year, but come the next year can you add another £3,600 to the same ISA or do you have to open a new one?

[robbie99]

I have last years ISA but nothing so far this year. The HSBC one looks good but I'm not already an account holder and I've had problems in the past with Barclays. Abbey and The Principality BS both have 6% deals but I have no idea about their customer service, which in all fairness to Icesave has been very good and their online banking is excellent.

And yes, I'm after a cash ISA, S&S ISA's are too risky for me the current market.

I opened an Abbey one this year and it all went smoothly, you can access the account online but I've only done this a couple of times to check the balance so I cant really say how good it is if you need to transfer money etc. I have a direct debit into it every month which was easy to set up. The only time i've needed to call them was to set up the online banking and they sorted that with a few minutes.

[moviesuk]

Post Office (http://www.thedvdforums.com/affiliatelink.php?localaffiliateid=132) just started one on Sept 1st @ 6.25% and allows transfers in.

You should find this (http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=401374) very useful too Nicola.

[moviesuk]

Can I semi-hijack and ask a potentially dumb question?

I know you're only allowed to put in £3,600 per tax year, but come the next year can you add another £3,600 to the same ISA or do you have to open a new one?
Found this on the Barclays FAQ

Do I need to open a new ISA every year?

You do not need to re-apply for an ISA if you subscribed to an ISA of the same type with us the previous tax year. However if you do not subscribe to your account for an entire tax year, you will have to complete a new declaration if you want to continue with the ISA in subsequent years.

[Kryten]

I have an Abbey one and have had for several years. It has online management and I've had no issues with customer service when calling them Its still under the 35k limit at the moment, but will split it up over two banks when it gets there. My mum has a lot of money with Abbey inc the same ISA and again no problems (but will probably move just to split the money over a few banks!)

[NicolaUK]

Thanks everyone, I'm still unsure about moving my old ISA but I'll open a new one in the next week or so once I've finally made my mind up on which one to choose.

[ROne]

As safe as a UK bank.... I'm not sure that is a good reference point. That said, none of us have tested the UK compensation scheme yet. I'm more than happy to be loaded up with Kaupthing Edge on the savings and feel better about that than the money tied up in the UK.

For the record I've got A&L ISA - massive rate (10%) and because it's a stick in and forget scenario the interface is bearable. And a NS&I ISA which is not the highest but balances out risk.

[sjg1]

I have no qualms about my Icesave ISA - Landsbanki are about as safe as any UK bank these days and as said, the first 20k euros would be covered by the icelandic equivalent scheme (one which actually has the money in a pot, ours doesn't!) the rest by our scheme.

[Coolio]

Post Office (http://www.thedvdforums.com/affiliatelink.php?localaffiliateid=132) just started one on Sept 1st @ 6.25% and allows transfers in.

You should find this (http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=401374) very useful too Nicola.

It states its 6.25% and that includes a 1.5% bonus for deposits made 08/09 tax year so anything transferred in will get 6.25% or 4.75%?

[moviesuk]

It states its 6.25% and that includes a 1.5% bonus for deposits made 08/09 tax year so anything transferred in will get 6.25% or 4.75%?
The PO transfer form is a nightmare. Its all worded for transferring in from your current subscription to them. No mention of previous years ISA's. Been on the phone to the PO and they were very unhelpful to say the least.

To such an extent that I have no personal confidence in this and will not be transferring my money to them.

[Coolio]

Me neither, thanks ;)

[moviesuk]

I had also emailed them and only just got a reply.

Unfortunately I am unable to help with your enquiry.

Glad I did not bother in the end.

[Dick Long]

NatWest (http://www.natwest.com/personal/savings/g2/isas.ashx) seems to be offering a good rate -6.67% AER to 7.32% AER (variable)- for people who specifically want to transfer in from existing ISA accounts. Royal Bank of Scotland (who own NatWest) are doing something similar I believe.

[Coolio]

Cheers long schlong, thats perfect, with those peeps anyway so should make application process a tad easier

[moviesuk]

There is a very detailed thread on MSE about this. That top percentage is for something like £27K being transferred in. Also RBS transfers have been very slow, some have been waiting 4 months for the transfer in. Have a look at the ISA section on MSE for more detail.

[cjanderson]

interesting, sure someone has done the calcs of transferring the Lloyds 6.5% fixed one across to this, i can't remember if you can withdraw or not in the year with the fixed one.

[neilalford]

interesting, sure someone has done the calcs of transferring the Lloyds 6.5% fixed one across to this, i can't remember if you can withdraw or not in the year with the fixed one.

I'm seem to remember that you can, but that there's a fairly big penalty on the interest rate.

[Baz]

I guess its just me that thinks now is a perfect time to start investing in a S&S ISA?

Whats the point in investing in one when stocks are high? It will be the shares you bought when the markets are low that grow the most.

Obviously it's a long term outlook thats needed and best if a monthly dripped payment rather than lump sum.

[FishBoy]

I have an Abbey one and have had for several years. It has online management and I've had no issues with customer service when calling them Its still under the 35k limit at the moment

£35k? :thinking:

[farmroad38]

£35k? :thinking:

The maximum amount under which you are covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme, should the bank go belly up.

[cjanderson]

I guess its just me that thinks now is a perfect time to start investing in a S&S ISA?

Whats the point in investing in one when stocks are high? It will be the shares you bought when the markets are low that grow the most.

Obviously it's a long term outlook thats needed and best if a monthly dripped payment rather than lump sum.

yep, do a monthly sum, thats safest at the start. I've bought 1 share so far this year (1k worth) and now is probably the time to start buying the other 3 - see which industries i think will survive the credit crunch - probably BAT or A bookies.

[neilalford]

In an ISA related issue, was talking to my parents last night. They'd just had one of those regular saving schemes come to an end and went into the bank to get the account closed and the money moved, some of it was meant to go into my dad's ISA and the rest into their current account.

A couple of days later my mum checked the balance of their current account and found it contained a lot more money that it should have done, turned out the bank had moved the money from the regular saver to the ISA... then closed the ISA!

The bank is apparently now trying to work out how to get the money back into the ISA, which hopefully they'll be able to manage, as my dad has been paying into it for many years, so losing the tax free ISA status would cost quite a lot in interest each year!

[Coolio]

Ouch! I would also ask how the bank will compensate them. What total tools (bank, not your parents...altho they could be, never met them)

[neilalford]

Ouch! I would also ask how the bank will compensate them. What total tools (bank, not your parents...altho they could be, never met them)

Yep, it's not good, hopefully there is some system in place to reverse cock ups of this type, because if not it's a pretty major issue. I don't know exactly how much was in the ISA but I think he'll be looking at paying several hundred pounds worth of extra tax every year if they can't fix it, and can't really see how they could sensibly compensate for that.

[NicolaUK]

NatWest (http://www.natwest.com/personal/savings/g2/isas.ashx) seems to be offering a good rate -6.67% AER to 7.32% AER (variable)- for people who specifically want to transfer in from existing ISA accounts. Royal Bank of Scotland (who own NatWest) are doing something similar I believe.

This is the one I went for, it's a great rate and the guy at the branch made the process quite simple so far. Hopefully the transfer will be complete in a month or so.

[Coolio]

Same here, seems quite mixed on MSE about branches knowing whats going on though. I did mine at Pudding Lane in the city and the guy said he had done 4 already that morning

[cjanderson]

I'm seem to remember that you can, but that there's a fairly big penalty on the interest rate.

true, i checked and its loss of 3 months interest.

So 6.5% for 3 months is about 1.625% so not worth it to switch to this 7.32% one. Especially as thats variable and rates are likely to fall soon.

one to watch for next year though. :thumbs:

[NicolaUK]

Same here, seems quite mixed on MSE about branches knowing whats going on though. I did mine at Pudding Lane in the city and the guy said he had done 4 already that morning

I went to a small village Natwest and was told they'd done 20 this week, mainly from people moving from the Halifax. I was also told that RBS are in negotiations to buy Bradford and Bingley!!