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You can invest in one Cash and one Stocks and Shares ISA each tax year but there are limits to the amount you may invest.
Your annual ISA allowance is £7,200 per tax year. Of this, up to the first £3,600 can be saved in a cash ISA with one provider. All of your allowance or the remainder can be saved in a stocks and shares ISA. Annual limits are subject to review. As from 6 October 2009, cash ISA limits will increase from £3,600 to £5,100 for those customers who will be 50 or over on 5 April 2010 (ie anyone born on or before 5 April 1960). The new limits will apply to all customers from 6 April 2010. The value of tax relief depends on individual circumstances.
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Until the end of this current tax year on 5 April 2010, if you were born on or before 5 April 1960, you can invest an annual ISA investment allowance of £10,200. Up to £5,100 of that allowance can be saved in cash with one provider. The remainder of the £10,200 can be invested in stocks and shares with either the same or another provider.
If you were born on or after 6 April 1960, you can invest an annual ISA investment allowance of £7,200, increasing to £10,200 from 6 April 2010. Up to £3,600 of the current allowance can be saved in cash with one provider. The remainder of the current allowance of £7,200 can be invested in stocks and shares with either the same or another provider. Please note these annual limits are subject to review and the Government's favorable treatment of ISAs may not be maintained.
You can open a Standard Life Cash Savings Cash ISA with as little as £1.
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Your Cash ISA interest will be paid tax free. The tax free rate is the rate of interest payable where interest is exempt from income tax.Take a look at our current savings rates.
Your Direct Access Cash ISA can also be pooled with other Direct Access Savings Accounts (DASAs) in your plan (whether these are your own accounts or ones you are pooling together with friends and family).
This means you would receive interest on the combined balance of your pooled DASA and Cash ISA accounts - potentially earning a higher rate of interest. Click here to find out more about our pooling facility.
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You can apply online now for a Cash ISA. Our online application takes approximately 10 minutes to complete and allows you to open the account at a time that suits you.
If you would prefer to speak to one of our experienced banking operators call us on 0845 271 9514, Mon-Fri 8am-6pm (call charges vary).
For both Internet and telephone applications, please have the following details to hand:
You can make transactions using our online service. So even when our phone lines are closed you can continue to manage your finances online.
Read more about Online Servicing.
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When you open your Cash ISA you will be asked to provide details of your existing bank or building society account. This account will be used for all transactions to and from your Standard Life Cash Savings account and is referred to as your designated external account.
It's simple to withdraw or deposit money. You have two options:
To make withdrawals or deposits over the Internet, you need to register for our online servicing facility. Once you have registered online we will send you your User ID and internet password by post.
Alternatively, call us on 0845 609 0256 to register (call charges may vary). You can use your User ID and internet password to carry out transactions on your accounts during our online servicing hours.
Online servicing hours are:
- Monday to Sunday 5am-2am.
Just ring us on 08457 55 56 57 Monday-Friday 8am-6pm (call charges may vary).
You will be asked for a random number from your PIN and a character from your telephone password. Money can be transferred easily from your designated external account into your Standard Life Cash Savings account.
If you wish, you can make regular payments into your Cash ISA by Direct Debit.
When you're withdrawing money from your Cash ISA, it will be paid into your designated external account. The process will normally take 3 working days but you will receive interest right up until the money appears in your designated external account.
Don't forget, if you have reached the ISA subscription limit for this tax year, any money you withdraw cannot be replaced until the next tax year.
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For all accounts opened on or after 1 March 2010 no transfers in from another ISA account (with us or anyone else) are permitted.
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We will send you statements on a half-yearly basis. However, you can request an interim statement at any time. There is no charge for additional statements. Call our Savings department on 0845 271 9514 to arrange (call charges may vary).
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You can withdraw funds from a Cash ISA at any time. Please note if you do remove cash you won't be making the most of your tax-free opportunity and you won't be able to replace the money you have withdrawn if you have reached the limit for that year.
You can make deposits or withdrawals from your Cash ISA using our Online Service. If you haven't registered it's easy to register now. Or you can telephone us on 0845 271 9514 Mon-Fri: 8am-6pm (call charges may vary).
If you are choosing to invest in a Cash ISA, please note that ISAs should be viewed as a longer term investment. While having access to funds will be important to many people, you should remember that there is a limit on the amount you can deposit in your Cash ISA in any tax year. This means that any money you withdraw cannot be replaced if you have reached the limit for that year.
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Interest is calculated daily. We will inform you in writing of any interest rate changes (rates are variable).
From time to time we may offer a Fixed Rate Cash ISA. Interest on this type of ISA will also be calculated daily but the rate will be fixed for a specified period of time.
You can choose to have the interest applied to the account either on a monthly or an annual basis.
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Relief from Income Tax on the interest you will receive is determined by HM Revenue and Customs. The value of these reliefs to you depends upon your own personal financial circumstances and may be subject to change in the future.
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You have the right to change your mind about your ISA investment. If you want to cancel your Cash ISA, you have up to 14 days after your receipt of the Savings Terms & Conditions to change or close the account without penalty. This is called the cancellation period.
We can arrange to return the funds to your designated external bank account or transfer your funds to another account held within your Standard Life Cash Savings Plan.
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There are no charges attached to this account for normal transactions. All deposits and withdrawals are free. However, there is a limit on the amount you can deposit in your Cash ISA in any tax year. This means that any money you withdraw cannot be replaced.
If you close or transfer your Fixed Rate ISA to another provider during the fixed rate period, an exit fee of 120 days tax-free interest will be applied. No exit fee applies to our Direct Access Cash ISA.
Interim statements can be requested at any time for no extra charge.
We do charge for failed direct debits. Please see our tariff of charges for further details.
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If you still have a query, give us a call on 0845 271 9514 (call charges may vary), where one of our telephone banking operators will be happy to help you. Our opening hours are Mon-Fri: 8am-6pm.
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