Transferring savings between ISAs

[Devilfish]

Here's a good topic and one which I think most will find useful.

I have an ISA with Halifax and I get 3.11% gross p.a. I've had a look about and ALLIANCE & LEICESTER are offering 6.00% gross p.a.

When I took out my ISA many years ago, you were only allowed one account because it's tax free, I'm assuming it's still the same. So...how can I go about changing ISAs?

My current account is with HBOS and I have another savings account so it's easy to transfer between the 3 accounts. I don't have any account with Alliance & Leicester but can I still open an ISA with them?

If I go into the Halifax and tell them I'm wanting to switch to another bank, will they give me the same deal?

Thanks

[Lainie]

i worked in national savings for years and they have a direct isa and a normal isa. cannot transfer into the direct one but can the ordinary one. national savings are popular as your money is 100% guaranteed by the government. you can only open 1 isa per financial year but you can have several different ones as they have been around for about 8 years now. transferring is a bit more complicated - read the small print and dont be fooled by those luring you into a high interest rate as quite often theres terms and conditons attached. when i got my redundancy i opened an egg isa as it was offering the best rate and t&c's at the time.

if you need any further help or info just pm me

L

[Devilfish]

I did see the egg one when I was looking at those comparison sites.

I'll see what the Halifax say about it then make my mind up.

Thanks for the info Laine.

[Lainie]

if you have several theres nothing to stop you transferring them to a single isa paying more interest ie

isa number 1 - halifax (only using as an example) balance ?3000


transfer to egg (only using as an example)

get your account number through etc

isa number 2 - nationwide (only using as an example) balance ?6000


isa number 3 - alliance and leicester (only using as an example) balance ?3500


transfer isa 2 and 3 to the same acct you transferred isa number 1 too to get a larger balance accumulating more interest. if another bank offers a better rate the following year just transfer it again. your limit to deposit for a new isa is ?3600 per financial year but you can transfer any amount.


sorry should stipulate thats cash isas im talking about

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/leaflets/isa.htm