National Savings & Investments - How it works

National Savings and Investments


Investment Account Investment Account How it works Is it right for me? Interest rates Saving regularly Terms and conditions How to apply	Our range / Investment Account / How it works The Investment Account is simple to use. You can start one with just £20, and then make further deposits of at least £20 whenever you want. Once your account is open, we’ll send you a passbook to help you keep track of how much you’re saving. Paying money in Cheque clearance Taking money out Saving regularly Interest Who can invest? Joint accounts Children's accounts Tax Investment limit 100% security About the terms and conditions Your right to cancel Protecting your personal information Our committment to good service Paying money in You can put money into your account at any Post Office® branch by sending cheques to us in the post, or by standing order if you want to save regularly. Post Office® branch At a Post Office® branch: simply give your money and passbook to the counter clerk. If you pay by cheque, please make it payable to 'Post Office Ltd'. Or, of course, you can pay in cheques made payable to the Investment Account holder. Post By post: please make your cheque payable to 'National Savings and Investments'. Write your name, address and Investment Account number on the back of the cheque and send it, along with your passbook (which we will return), to: National Savings and Investments, Glasgow G58 1SB. Again, you can also pay in cheques made payable to the Investment Account holder. Please do not send cash by post. Your deposit will start earning interest from the day we receive it or the date it is paid in at a Post Office® branch. The minimum for each deposit is £20. Back to top Cheque clearance Once your account is open, you’ll start earning interest on all deposits from the day we receive them. Cheque deposits will be available for withdrawal from the 7th working day (ie excluding weekends and English bank holidays). For example, if we receive your cheque on a Monday, your payment will be cleared on the Tuesday of the following week. Allow one additional day for each English bank holiday. Back to top Taking money out You can take money out at any time with no notice and no penalty - we'll send your payment within a few days of receiving your request. To take money out, just apply by post directly to us. Ask at any Post Office® branch for an Investment Account withdrawal form and a pre-addressed envelope. Send the completed form and your passbook to us. We can send your money by warrant (like a cheque), or you can ask to collect it in cash at a named Post Office® branch in the UK. There is a limit of £2,000 for withdrawals collected in cash. Back to top Saving regularly The most convenient way to save regularly is by standing order, with regular payments from your bank or building society. You'll earn interest from the date we receive each deposit and there's no need to send in your passbook every month. We'll just bring it up to date the next time you send it in. Once you’ve opened an Investment Account and have received details of the account number, you can download a standing order form. Back to top Interest Your balance will earn interest at attractive rates, even if you only save a little. And because the rates are tiered, you’ll earn higher rates as your savings build up. The interest rates are variable. Each whole pound in your account earns interest daily from the date we receive your deposit until you withdraw it. Your interest is credited to your account automatically on 31 December each year. You don’t need to send us your passbook just to get your interest entered – we’ll simple update your book when you next send it to us, for example when you ask for a withdrawal. Back to top Who can invest? Anyone aged seven or over can open an Investment Account, either individually or jointly with one other person. Accounts can also be opened on behalf of a child under seven but withdrawals will normally only be paid to a parent or guardian until the child reaches seven. Accounts can be held in trust for up to two personal beneficiaries of any age. Back to top Joint accounts We will ask you on the application form to decide whether both account holders together or either one of you individually are to sign for withdrawals. Please note that if you choose either one of you individually, then either account holder can withdraw all the money in the account on their own. Back to top Children's accounts Accounts can be opened for a child under seven years old. The child will not be able to withdraw the money, but if cash is needed for his or her benefit, the parent or guardian can make a withdrawal on their behalf. Children aged seven and over can open and manage an account themselves, making their own deposits and withdrawals. Back to top Tax Even though the interest earned in an Investment Account is taxable, it is automatically credited to your account gross (ie with no tax deducted). This means that non-taxpayers get to keep it all without having to complete an HM Revenue & Customs registration form, as long as the interest doesn't take their total taxable income above their tax allowance. If you are a taxpayer you will need to declare your interest to HM Revenue and Customs. Click here to find out more about tax and savings. Back to top Investment limit You can invest from £20 up to a maximum of £100,000. If you reach this limit you can't make any more deposits, but we'll continue to add interest on the full amount. Back to top 100% security Any money you hold in an Investment Account is 100% secure. National Savings and Investments can make this promise, because our investments are backed by HM Treasury. Back to top About the terms and conditions Please read the terms and conditions before you invest. If we make any changes to the terms and conditions after you invest, we will let you know. If any change is to your disadvantage, we will tell you personally by writing to you at least 30 days before the change. In this case you can switch to another product or close your account, without notice or penalty, within 60 days of our telling you. For any other changes, we will let customers know within 30 days, either by including a notice with a statement or other communication, or by putting a notice on our website. Please note, this does not apply to changes of interest rate, which will be notified in a range of national newspapers, on our website and in Post Office® branches. Back to top Your right to cancel If after opening your account you decide it does not meet your needs, let us know in writing* within 14 days of receiving your welcome letter and we will help you change to a different account or refund your money with any interest due. * Either by post to Investment Account, National Savings and Investments, Glasgow, G58 1SB, or by fax on 0141-636 8744 or by email to customerenquiries@nsandi.com Back to top Protecting your personal information When you become a customer of ours, we will treat all the personal information we hold about you as private and confidential. Click here for details on our privacy policy. Back to top Our commitment to good service As part of our commitment to providing you with a high standard of service, we subscribe to the Banking Code. If we make a mistake we’ll aim to put things right quickly and without fuss. And if you have a complaint, we have a procedure designed to resolve it fairly. We are also covered by the Financial Ombudsman Service. Click here to find out more about the Banking Code or our complaints procedure. Back to top Home Print Email to a friend		Search Benefits Attractive tiered interest rates Interest paid gross Handy passbook Easier access Investor’s guide Our range Our interest rates Need help to decide? Tax and savings Security Privacy policy Online security Backed by HM Treasury


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