Halifax has explained the rules for ISAs after a customer got in touch with a query about reactivating their account.
The customer said in a post on X that they just opened a new ISA with Trading 212 paying 5.1% and that after reviewing their other accounts, they found they had an ISA with Halifax that had been deactivated.
When they went to reactivate the account, they had been warned they could only open one ISA each tax year.
The person wanted to know if now they had opened the other ISA this tax year, would they be unable to reactivate the existing one.
The customer told Halifax: “The information given to me via your mobile banking app suggests that I can not reactivate it this tax year because of the other ISA which I opened just a few days ago.
“But as my account already exists with you surely it should not class as opening a new account?”
In its response, the bank explained an important limit: “You can only put money into one cash ISA with us in a tax year, but you can also pay into any other cash ISA, stocks and shares ISA, Lifetime ISA, or Innovative Finance ISA for which you are eligible in each tax year.”
Halifax added that this is subject to the person’s ISA allowance, which allows an individual to deposit up to £20,000 a year in ISAs.
The bank also explained that reactivating the ISA would be classed as “reopening the ISA to fund”. Halifax also asked the customer why they wanted to reactivate the account.
The person said they wanted to get at the funds so they could receive the interest it had earned and possibly close the account.
Halifax stated in response: “Yes, you can reactivate your existing ISA with us without facing any penalty with HMRC. Renewing your existing ISA won’t impact your new ISA.”
The customer shared their frustrating experience trying to previously resolve the issue, saying they couldn’t get a “straight answer” when speaking to staff about the matter.
Another Halifax customer recently contacted the bank with a query about its savings rules. Sharing a screengrab of the information page for the Kids’ Monthly Saver, they asked: “Does this mean you have to add at least £10 a month and a max of £100 a month please? If so, what happens if you miss a month?”
The regular savings account pays a fixed 5.5% interest, with the information they shared featuring information about a ‘minimum first deposit’ detailed as ‘£10 to £100 a month’.
Halifax said in response: “The minimum you can save each month is £10 up to a maximum of £100 by one standing order.
“You can also make a bank transfer to top up the savings as long as the total amount of your deposits doesn’t exceed the monthly £100 limit.”
