Your ISA has changed

You can have more than one ISA account allowing you flexibility. For example, you could invest your full £20,000 allowance in a Stocks and Shares ISA or you could split the allowance between a Stocks and Shares ISA and a Cash ISA. Please note even if you have more than one account your allowance is still £20,000 per tax-year (allowance correct for 2023/24 tax-year).

Payments are normally made from the ISA account holder. We can accept payments from third parties however we will require a letter, signed by them and sent along with the payment, that confirms that the money is being irrevocably gifted to the ISA account holder. We may also be required to verify the identity of the payer (for example, a certified copy of their current passport or driving license for identity and a copy of a bank statement or utility bill as proof of address). If someone else is planning to make a payment into your ISA you may want to contact our Investor Services team (0345 600 3030 or +44 1268 447 407 if you’re overseas, lines are open weekdays 9am-5pm) in advance of the payment being sent to check if anything further will be required.

As the account holder (you can only have one account holder for an ISA) you can top up through the online Investor Portal using a debit card. Alternatively, you can send us a cheque in the post along with the relevant Top-Up Form.

Your money is invested on the next available dealing day after receipt of your payment (subject to online dealing cut-off times, up to 11:59pm).

The proof needs to be pre-printed by your bank and show:

• Your sort code
• Your account number
• The name of the account holder(s)

This is normally a pre-printed pay-in slip (which is usually found in the back of your cheque book but may be provided by your bank/building society separately) or cancelled cheques (i.e. a blank cheque that you have scored through so that it cannot be used). A cancelled cheque is sometimes referred to as a spoilt cheque or a voided cheque.

There is no tax to pay on any return on your investment, including dividends or interest received. You’ll also pay no capital gains tax (CGT), which may be relevant if you have used up all your annual CGT allowance.

To verify your identity, we can accept

• Valid passport
• Valid photocard driving licence (full or provisional)
• Recent evidence of entitlement to a state or local authority-funded educational or other grant
• Most recent HM Revenue and Customs Tax Coding Notification, Assessment or Statement (dated within the last year). If you are working and paying tax, the HMRC will send you a copy of your tax coding notification on request.
• A government-issued document that incorporates your full name and photograph and either your residential address or your date of birth.

We then need something that has been sent in the post to your residential address.

• A bank or debit card statement which has been issued within the last three months (but not ones printed off the internet). If you don’t normally get these sent in the post, if you contact your bank, they can usually send you a one-off statement.
• Utility bill issued within the past three months (but not ones printed off the internet)
• Valid photocard driving licence (full or provisional)*
• Recent evidence of entitlement to a state or local authority-funded educational or other grant*
• Most recent HM Revenue and Customs Tax Coding Notification, Assessment or Statement (dated within the last year)*
• A government-issued document that incorporates your full name and photograph and either your residential address or your date of birth*

* We need two documents so you can’t use the same document to confirm both your identity and your address. To verify your bank details, we need something from your bank which has your sort code, account number and account name printed on it e.g.

• A bank statement which has been issued within the last three months (but not ones printed off the internet). If you don’t normally get these sent in the post, if you contact your bank, they can usually send you a one-off statement. We can accept the same statement as both proof of your bank details and proof of your address.
• A voided cheque (in other words, one that you have scored through and written VOID across it so that nobody could use it)
• A pre-printed pay-in slip

We don’t recommend that you send us originals of personal documents in the post. However, you can send us certified copies instead.