If you have a fixed rate Cash ISA and want to take advantage of the new £15,000 limit, make sure you're aware of your provider's deadline.
ISAs are changing. From 1st July, a simpler product dubbed the 'New ISA' (NISA) will raise the total annual tax-free limit from £11,880 to £15,000 and give savers new flexibility on how they choose to invest their money.
The changes were announced in March by Chancellor George Osborne in the 2014 Budget.
Between 6th April and 30th June 2014 savers are able to place a maximum of £11,880 in either cash and stocks and shares ISAs, with up to half allowed to be saved as cash, or just stocks and shares ISAs.
The new £15,000 limit can be saved wholly as cash, stocks and shares or any combination of the two.
The new rules for ISAs also mean you’ll be able to transfer previous year’s ISA savings between stocks and shares and cash, and vice versa, if you want to.
How existing ISAs will be impacted
If you've paid into a cash or stocks and shares ISA since 6th April 2014, you will not be able to open a further ISA of the same type before 6th April 2015, unless your provider allows multiple accounts in the same tax year.
You may however make additional payments – up to the new £15,000 NISA limit – into your existing account(s). Or you can transfer those account(s) to another provider that will allow additional amounts to be added.
Instant access, notice and other variable Cash ISAs will automatically become NISAs from 1st July 2014 and account holders will be able to top-up to the new £15,000 allowance until the end of the tax year on 5th April 2015.
[SPOTLIGHT]Stocks and shares ISAs should also automatically allow top-ups from 1st July.
Regular saving ISAs, if they haven’t already, will have their monthly limit adjusted from 1st July 2014 to account for the higher savings target. The monthly deposit limit should rise from £495 to £1,250.
However, with fixed rate ISAs the situation isn’t so straightforward.
Normally fixed rate products restrict savers from making additional deposits once enough savers have come on board and the issue closes and/or after an initial deposit period. But this year, because of the changes announced in the Budget, providers are planning to extend the window which money can be paid into their fixed rate deals.
And the deadlines vary from provider to provider.
Top-up deadlines for existing fixed rate Cash ISAs
Below are the deadlines for topping up fixed rate ISAs at leading providers from 1st July 2014 at the current time of writing.
|
Bank/building society |
Top-ups allowed? |
Deadline for top-up |
Notes |
|
Aldermore |
No |
N/A |
No additional deposits are allowed on existing fixed rate ISAs. But you will be able to open another Cash ISA product to take advantage of the full allowance. |
|
Barclays |
Yes |
5th April 2015 |
|
|
Buckinghamshire BS |
Yes |
31st July 2014 |
|
|
Cambridge BS |
Yes |
5th April 2015 |
|
|
Cheshire BS/Derbyshire BS/Dunfermline BS |
Yes |
31st July 2014 |
Fixed rate ISAS opened between 6th April 2014 and 30th June 2014 can be topped up until the end of July. Customers can opt to open a new Cash ISA with the provider rather than top-up if they wish. |
|
Clydesdale Bank/Yorkshire Bank |
Yes |
31st July 2014 |
Those with either a Cash ISA Fixed Rate Bond Issue 23 or Issue 24 will only be able to make one further deposit during July to top up to new limit. |
|
Coventry BS |
Yes |
31st July 2014 |
|
|
Cumberland BS |
Yes |
31st July 2014 |
|
|
Furness BS |
Yes |
31st July 2014 |
|
|
Halifax/Bank of Scotland |
Yes |
180 days of account opening |
Cash ISAs opened or rolled over between 11th March and 30th June will get an extended funding window of 180 days (up from the standard 60 days). |
|
Ipswich BS |
Yes |
5th April 2015 |
|
|
Julian Hodge Bank |
Yes |
31st July 2014 |
A single additional deposit can be made until the end of July to accounts opened between 6th April 2014 and 30th June 2014. No additional deposits will be permitted for accounts opened from 1st July 2014. |
|
Kent Reliance BS |
Yes |
5th April 2015 |
Customers can opt to open a new Cash ISA with the provider rather than top up if they wish. |
|
Leeds BS |
Yes |
31st July 2014 |
|
|
Lloyds Bank |
Yes |
5th April 2015 |
|
|
M&S Bank |
Yes |
5th April 2015 |
|
|
Marsden BS |
Yes |
5th April 2015 |
|
|
Metro Bank |
Yes |
31st July 2014 |
|
|
Nationwide |
Yes |
31st July 2014 |
Customers can opt to open a new Cash ISA with the provider rather than top up if they wish. |
|
NatWest/Royal Bank of Scotland |
Yes |
18th July 2014/8th August 2014/22nd August 2014 |
Fixed rate ISAs of issue 100/101 top-up permitted until 18/07/2014 and issue 102/103 until 08/08/2014. New issue fixed rate ISA 104/105 top-ups allowed until 22/08/14. |
|
Newcastle BS |
Yes |
31st July 2014 |
|
|
Norwich & Peterborough BS |
Yes |
31st July 2014 |
|
|
Principality BS |
Yes |
5th April 2015 |
|
|
Saffron BS |
Yes |
5th April 2015 |
One further deposit permitted from 1st July 2014 until the end of the tax year. |
|
Santander |
Yes |
31st August 2014 |
|
|
Skipton BS |
Yes |
31st July 2014 |
Fixed rate ISAs taken out between 17th March 2014 and 30th June 2014 can be topped up until the end of July. |
|
Tesco Bank |
Yes |
31st July 2014 |
Fixed rate ISAs taken out from 6th April 2014 can be topped up until the end of July. |
|
TSB |
Yes |
5th April 2015 |
|
|
Ulster Bank |
Yes |
11th July 2014 |
Fixed rate ISA issue 14A opened between 10th June and 30th June 2014. |
|
West Bromwich BS |
Yes |
30th September 2014 |
Fixed rate ISAS opened between 6th April 2014 and 30th June 2014 can be topped up until the end of September. |
|
Yorkshire BS/ Chelsea BS/ Barnsley BS |
Yes |
31st July 2014 |
|
So if you want to top up a fixed rate ISA, make sure you check your provider's deadline now.
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