Cash ISA transfers – what you need to know

The thought of transferring your cash ISA can be quite daunting and might seem complicated. But with the current economic climate, it’s more important than ever to make sure you’re making the most out of your savings, and you should shop around to find the best ISA for you.

We’ve put together some simple tips and things to remember when transferring your ISA that might help ensure it’s a smooth process.

What is an ISA transfer?

An ISA transfer is a process where you move your existing cash ISA from one ISA provider to another. Unlike other savings or bank accounts, however, you don’t move the money yourself. Your new cash ISA provider can help you with the transfer, to ensure your ISA fund retains its tax-free status.

There are various reasons you might want to move ISA providers, the most popular being to get a higher interest rate, especially if you’ve had your existing cash ISA for a long time. You may also have a few different cash ISAs and want to consolidate them, or you may want to change the type of savings account you have (switch from an easy access ISA to a fixed rate one, for example).

You can choose to transfer all or part of your existing cash ISA, as long as you meet certain criteria (see below).

How do I make a transfer?

With Kent Reliance, you can transfer all of the current tax year’s subscriptions and those from previous years when you open a new cash ISA with us.

When transferring, always make sure you ask us to arrange the transfer from your current provider, otherwise you may lose your tax-free entitlement on any money you withdraw yourself. This means that any money withdrawn cannot be repaid into a cash ISA later in that tax year without impacting your annual ISA allowance.

This is normally done electronically between ISA providers so it’s worth checking that your current provider can complete electronic transfers. It’s not a problem if they don’t, we can arrange this slightly differently for you. Simply download our ISA transfer form along with the application form for the cash ISA you’d like to open from our website and complete the relevant details. We’ll be in touch if we need any further information, and will then take care of the rest.

Make sure you’re aware of any possible charges or terms and conditions that are applicable with your current ISA provider before opening a new cash ISA with us.

How long will my ISA transfer take?

The length of time varies between each provider and the different types of ISAs, but as a general rule transfers shouldn’t take longer than 15 working days for a cash ISA.

Can I have more than one ISA?

You can only subscribe to one cash ISA provider per tax year (tax year’s run from 6 April to 5 April). Some providers do allow you to hold multiple cash ISAs with them - for example you could have £10,000 in a fixed rate ISA and £10,000 in an easy access cash ISA, but not all providers offer this so it’s worth checking before you apply.

Don’t forget you can transfer any previous cash ISA subscriptions you may hold with other providers. This may be handy if you want to consolidate the cash ISAs you hold with one provider or you simply want to earn a higher interest rate.

It’s worth remembering, if you plan to transfer a large balance, that the maximum amount your savings are protected under the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) is £85,000 for individual account holders.

What do I need to be aware of?

• Before you initiate an ISA transfer to a new provider (whether that’s us or anyone else) double check that they will accept a TRANSFER-IN to your new ISA.
• If you have a fixed rate ISA, and want to transfer your savings before the fixed period has come to an end, you may incur a loss of interest. So it’s usually worth waiting until the end of the fixed rate period or you can choose to pay the additional charge if you want to transfer your savings sooner.
• If you‘ve opened your existing cash ISA within the current tax year, you have to transfer the whole amount to your new provider, as you can only subscribe to one cash ISA per tax year. This applies for any money you have paid in to any cash ISA (old or new) within the last tax year.
• If you’ve already subscribed to a cash ISA with another ISA provider in this tax year, you shouldn’t make a deposit into an ISA with us for this tax year until the ISA has been transferred in full.
• When filling in an ISA transfer form, ensure that the details you’ve provided are correct to save time through the process – the ones people normally mix up are the ISA reference number and National Insurance Number.

We hope this guide has helped you to find out more about ISA transfers, but for queries about operating any of your accounts, including more information around paying in and opening accounts, check out https://www.kentreliance.co.uk/support.