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Unused ISA account

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smokey01
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Unused ISA account

#415461

Postby smokey01 » May 27th, 2021, 8:12 am

My sister has just opened an ISA with Marcus and had planned to transfer an existing ISA to it. She has now realised that they don’t allow transfers in and so she doesn’t need it. Should she close it under the 14 day cancellation period or is it ok to just leave it dormant? My worry is in 6 months time she may open another ISA for this year’s contribution but as far as I know it is ok as long as she doesn’t ever put anything into Marcus I.e. you are not allowed to contribute to 2 ISA’s in a year but opening 2 ISA’s is ok as long as one of them doesn’t get money put in.

didds
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Re: Unused ISA account

#415520

Postby didds » May 27th, 2021, 11:00 am

whatever the rules actually mean, if she isnt going to use it then whats the point of not closing it? It can only possibly confuse matters overall.

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Re: Unused ISA account

#415555

Postby stevensfo » May 27th, 2021, 12:10 pm

smokey01 wrote:My sister has just opened an ISA with Marcus and had planned to transfer an existing ISA to it. She has now realised that they don’t allow transfers in and so she doesn’t need it. Should she close it under the 14 day cancellation period or is it ok to just leave it dormant? My worry is in 6 months time she may open another ISA for this year’s contribution but as far as I know it is ok as long as she doesn’t ever put anything into Marcus I.e. you are not allowed to contribute to 2 ISA’s in a year but opening 2 ISA’s is ok as long as one of them doesn’t get money put in.


I once did almost the same thing; opened an ISA but decided to go for another one. I received news updates for about a year, then they obviously realised it wasn't being used and I heard nothing more. As long as she doesn't put any money in, she'll be fine. Though, as Didds says, why not close it? A short email or their private messaging? Probably safer, just in case they ever introduce an inactivity fee or monthly charge for 'having' the ISA. ;)

Steve

PS Sounds crazy I know, but in Italy, after the Financial crisis, people with current and savings accounts had an annual 33 euro charge 'bollo' to pay for each account. I think the bollo for the savings accounts lasted about five years, but it meant that people with almost nothing in their savings accounts suddenly found themselves in the red! 8-)

AF62
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Re: Unused ISA account

#415589

Postby AF62 » May 27th, 2021, 2:08 pm

didds wrote:whatever the rules actually mean, if she isnt going to use it then whats the point of not closing it? It can only possibly confuse matters overall.


As someone who decided to ‘tidy up’ their accounts recently my experience is that banks make it quite easy to open accounts, and with lots you can simply do it online.

However closing an account is an entirely different experience, with it being impossible to do online and instead you being required to speak to someone - someone who is invariably at the end of a telephone line with a ridiculously long queue. In the end with several banks I gave up and just scrawled “close this account” onto a scrap of paper and stuffed it through the letterbox of the local branch.

richlist
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Re: Unused ISA account

#415635

Postby richlist » May 27th, 2021, 7:12 pm

There is another reason to keep unused accounts open. If you decide at some point in the future that you want a different account with the same people it's much easier and less time consuming, if you have an existing account.

Unfortunately many of them will close the account if you don't pay anything in to it.


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