Let's talk about transferring ISAs

Transferring an ISA is where you are moving your ISA from one provider to another.  This can be moving a cash or stocks and shares ISA from one provider to a Cash or stocks and shares ISA of another provider.  The important part of this is that the money will always remain within the ISA wrapper. 

You may consider transferring ISAs to make use of better rates in the event of it being a cash ISA or better investment performance if an investment one. The charges of different providers may also have an important role to play in this decision.

It is important to note that there is no limit to the size of the transfer, for example, if you transfer an ISA worth £40,000 to a new provider, this will not affect your annual allowance. It is only new contributions to an ISA that must remain within the annual allocated limit (£20,000 for the tax year 2020/21).  However, you must be sure to transfer the ISA to the new provider as opposed to simply withdrawing the money to re-invest it elsewhere or you will risk releasing it from the wrapper and the investment into the new Isa will count towards your annual allowance

Some other important factors to be aware of are as follows:

• If you are moving a cash ISA, it needs to be moved in its entirety.  This is because you can only hold one cash Isa at a time. Stocks and shares ISAs can be split amongst providers however.
• Some cash ISAs, particularly Fixed rate ones, may impose a penalty for transferring ahead of the agreed redemption date.
• If you want to transfer money you've invested in an ISA during the current year, you must transfer all of it. For money you invested in previous years, you can choose to transfer all or part of your savings.