Investment Platforms and Brokers
How to Transfer Your Stocks and Shares ISA to a Cheaper Platform
Platform fees compound the same way returns do, just against you. If you are paying a percentage-based fee on a six-figure pot that a flat-fee platform would charge a fixed amount for, the gap over twenty years is not a rounding error. The good news is that you can transfer a stocks and shares ISA between providers without touching your annual allowance and without any tax consequence, provided you do it the right way. The bad news is that the wrong way is easy, irreversible, and costs you allowance you cannot get back.
The one rule that matters
Never withdraw the money yourself.
The moment cash leaves the ISA wrapper, it stops being ISA money. Paying it into a new ISA counts as a fresh subscription against this year’s £20,000 allowance, and any of it above that has nowhere to go. HMRC is explicit: if you withdraw without using the official transfer process, you will not be able to reinvest that part of your tax-free allowance again.
The correct process is the opposite of intuitive. You do not touch your old provider at all. You open the account at the new platform and ask them to request the transfer. They pull it across. Your old provider’s job is to hand it over.
In-specie or cash: the choice that costs the most
This is the real decision, and most guides skate over it.
In-specie transfer moves your actual holdings across as they are. Your funds, shares and ETFs land at the new platform still invested. Nothing is sold. You are never out of the market.
Cash transfer means your old provider sells everything, sends the cash, and you buy back in at the other end.
The case for in-specie is that time out of the market is a real, uninsurable risk. A cash transfer can leave you uninvested for days or weeks. If the market rises 4% during that window, you have paid 4% of your portfolio for the privilege of switching platforms, which will dwarf the fee saving you were chasing. It can equally fall 4% and you get lucky. That is precisely the problem: you have swapped a known cost for a coin toss.
The case for cash is speed and simplicity, and sometimes necessity. Not every holding is portable. If your old platform holds a fund the new one does not offer, that line cannot move in specie and has to be sold. Platform-specific funds are the usual culprit.
The trade-off nobody mentions: in-specie is slower. Each fund line moves separately through the registrar, and industry practice runs to roughly four to eight weeks. There is no statutory deadline on in-specie transfers. A cash transfer of a stocks and shares ISA should complete within 30 calendar days, and cash ISA transfers within 15 working days.
So: in-specie protects you from market risk but takes longer and has no deadline behind it. Cash is quicker but puts you out of the market. For most people with an ordinary portfolio of mainstream funds and ETFs, in-specie is the right default, and the extra weeks are the price of not gambling.
What it costs to leave
Exit fees have largely gone out of fashion, but “largely” is not “entirely”, and they change. Before you start, check three things with your current provider:
- Exit or transfer-out fees, sometimes charged per holding rather than per account, which turns a diversified portfolio into an expensive exit.
- Whether they charge for in-specie specifically, since some price it differently from a cash transfer.
- Any bonus or fixed-rate terms you would forfeit.
Then check with the new provider whether they will reimburse those costs. Many run transfer-cost cover as an acquisition offer. That offer is the difference between a switch paying back in months and paying back in years.
Work out the actual annual saving before doing any of this. Our investment platform fee calculator does the arithmetic, and fund fees and the OCF covers the charges that sit underneath the platform fee and often matter more.
Partial transfers are allowed
You do not have to move everything. You can transfer part of your ISA and leave the rest, and you can split across providers. HMRC permits moving all or part of your savings, from this year or previous years.
This is more useful than it sounds. If one holding is stuck on your old platform, move the rest and leave that one behind rather than abandoning the whole switch. If you want to test a new platform’s service before committing a large pot, move a slice first.
The one constraint worth knowing: current-year subscriptions have historically had to move as a whole rather than be split. If you have paid into the ISA this tax year, confirm the treatment with both providers before assuming you can divide it.
The 2027 change to factor in now
From 6 April 2027 the ISA rules change, and one of the changes is specifically about transfers.
The overall ISA limit stays at £20,000, but the cash ISA limit drops to £12,000 for anyone under 65. It stays at £20,000 for those aged 65 and over. To stop people routing round the lower cash limit, HM Treasury has published anti-circumvention rules:
- Transfers from non-cash ISAs into cash ISAs will not be permitted. This does not apply if you are 65 or over.
- A flat rate 22% charge will apply to interest or alternative finance return paid on cash held inside a non-cash ISA.
- Portfolios made entirely of cash-like assets (defined as money market funds) become non-qualifying investments. Holding some is still fine.
Regulations are due to be laid in Autumn 2026 and take effect 6 April 2027. The practical read-across: if you are under 65 and think you might one day want to move a stocks and shares ISA into a cash ISA, that door closes. This does not affect stocks and shares ISA to stocks and shares ISA transfers, which is what this guide is about, but it does mean parking large cash balances inside an investment ISA stops being free.
The process, start to finish
- Pick the destination and check your holdings are supported. Ask specifically whether each fund can come in specie.
- Check exit fees at the old platform and reimbursement at the new one.
- Open the ISA at the new provider.
- Complete their transfer form, choosing in-specie or cash deliberately. This is the box people tick without reading.
- Wait, and do not panic. Four to eight weeks for in-specie is normal, not a problem.
- Check every line arrived, including fractional units and any residual cash.
- If it drags past the deadlines, chase your provider, then escalate to the Financial Ombudsman Service.
During the transfer your holdings may be unavailable to trade. Do not start one if you need to deal in the next month.
Frequently asked questions
Will I lose my tax-free allowance if I transfer my stocks and shares ISA? No, provided you use the formal transfer process. A proper ISA transfer does not count against your £20,000 annual allowance regardless of the amount moved. You only lose allowance if you withdraw the money yourself and pay it back in, which HMRC treats as a new subscription.
How long does a stocks and shares ISA transfer take? A cash transfer of a stocks and shares ISA should take no longer than 30 calendar days. An in-specie transfer typically runs four to eight weeks because each holding moves separately through the registrar, and there is no statutory deadline on it. Cash ISA transfers have a shorter 15 working day limit.
Is an in-specie transfer better than a cash transfer? For most people, yes. In-specie keeps you invested throughout, so you carry no risk of the market moving while your money sits in cash. The cost is time. Choose cash only if you need speed or your holdings are not portable to the new platform.
Can I transfer just part of my stocks and shares ISA? Yes. HMRC allows transferring all or part of your savings, from the current year or previous years, and you can hold ISAs with more than one provider. Current-year subscriptions may need to move as a whole, so confirm with both providers first.
Do I have to tell my old ISA provider I am leaving? No, and you should not try to arrange it from that end. Open the account with the new provider and ask them to initiate the transfer. They contact your old provider and pull the money across.
Can I still transfer a stocks and shares ISA into a cash ISA? Currently yes, but from 6 April 2027 transfers from non-cash ISAs into cash ISAs will not be permitted for anyone under 65. Those aged 65 and over are exempt from that restriction.
What happens if my transfer takes longer than the deadline? Contact your provider first and ask for a written explanation. If it is not resolved, you can escalate the complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service. Delays on in-specie transfers are common and do not necessarily indicate a problem, since no statutory deadline applies to them.
