Does it cost more to hold £268k across three ISAs than one?

Thanks for sending this in - it's a good question, and one a lot of people with more than one ISA are quietly wondering about.

How much does it cost to run three ISAs instead of one?

You've got around £260,000 spread across three ISAs. Based on each provider's charges, here's how much the platform fees are roughly costing you per year, assuming you are invested entirely in funds:

If you put the whole lot on one platform and invested all £260,000 in funds, the platform cost on each of these platforms would be:

You would also be paying £1.95 every time you buy or sell a fund on Hargreaves Lansdown.

Shares & other equities face different platform and dealing charges on Hargreaves Lansdown and Bestinvest, so the actual fees you are paying may be different based on your portfolio make up and trading behaviours.

(This uses a typical balanced fund for illustration - your actual fund charges depend on exactly what you hold, so it's worth checking your own.)

Why do ISA fees vary so much between providers?

The biggest thing that decides what you pay isn't really which provider you're with - it's how they charge. Some take a percentage of your pot every year, so the bigger your balance grows, the more you hand over. Others charge a flat fee, or cap their charge once you hit a certain amount, so the cost stops climbing as your pot gets larger.

There are two halves to the bill, too - the platform fee (what you pay the provider to hold your investments) and the fund fee (what you pay for the investments themselves). Both vary a lot, so it's worth looking at the total, not just one number.

There's also a simple win hiding in your question: you're currently paying three separate sets of platform fees. Bringing your ISAs together with one provider strips out that duplication, and can nudge a single larger pot into those helpful fee caps sooner.

We won't tell you which platform to pick, that depends on your balance, the funds you hold and how you invest. But our comparison tables let you pop in your own numbers and see the all-in cost for a pot your size, so you can weigh it up yourself.

Is it hard to transfer an ISA to a new provider?

Easier than most people fear. The golden rule: don't withdraw the money and pay it back in yourself; that risks losing the tax-free wrapper and eating into your annual allowance. Instead, open an account with the new provider and use their ISA transfer service. They do the heavy lifting and your money stays wrapped up as an ISA the whole way through.

You can usually choose to move your investments as they are ("in specie") or sell to cash and move that across. Transfers typically take a few weeks, and it's worth checking two things before you start: whether your current provider charges an exit or transfer fee, and how long you'd be out of the market if you go the cash route. You don't have to move everything to one place either - you can consolidate the lot or keep things split, whatever suits you.

Hope that helps you get started.