General Investment Conditions
Birmingham Midshires is the deposit taker for the Saga Savings Accounts. The General Investment Conditions should be read together with any Account Conditions relating to your specific deposit account. If there is any conflict between these General Investment Conditions and the Account Conditions then the Account Conditions shall have priority. The General Investment Conditions apply to all Saga Savings Accounts provided by Birmingham Midshires.
Saga ISA Saver
Our agreement with you is made up of general conditions (contained in the General Investment Conditions) and the Saga ISA Saver Issue 4 Conditions (the Account) below. If there is any overlap or conflict between the Account and the General Investment Conditions, the Account terms apply. In these Conditions "we", "our" and "us" mean Birmingham Midshires, a division of Bank of Scotland plc, which is registered as an ISA manager at HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC)
The Account is a cash ISA and it has a variable interest rate. We treat it as not being a payment account, as you can only pay in the yearly cash ISA allowance set by HMRC. (We explain what a payment account is in condition 1 of the General Investment Conditions. You will see from conditions 18 and 19 of those conditions that we may treat payment and non payment accounts differently if we make any changes to your conditions or interest rate).
1. ELIGIBILITY
1.1 The Account is available only to individuals aged 50 years old and over.
1.2 To have an Account, you must be resident in the UK for tax purposes or a Crown employee serving overseas (or be married to or in a civil partnership with a Crown employee serving overseas). You must inform us if these conditions no longer apply to you.
1.3 The Account must be solely in your name and all funds deposited in it must belong to you.
1.4 You may not pay into more than one cash ISA in any one tax year.
1.5 HMRC ISA Regulations mean that if you do not make a deposit into your Account in any tax year (other than the year of application) you will need to complete a new application form if you want to make deposits in a later year.
1.6 The Account is a limited issue, and we can stop selling it at any time. Once you’ve opened your Account you’ll be able to add to it in either this or future tax years.
2. OPENING AND RUNNING YOUR ACCOUNT
2.1 Your Account will start from the date of your first deposit, which must be at least £1, and be accompanied by a valid application form. Applications cannot be backdated.
2.2 The administration of your Account will be carried out by Birmingham Midshires. Queries about your Account can be made through our Saga Savings Team on 0845 850 0664. The lines are open Monday to Saturday 8am to 8pm. Alternatively, for more information, visit our website at www.saga.co.uk/savings
2.3 You can only operate your Account by post.
3. DEPOSITS AND WITHDRAWALS
3.1 You can pay all or part of your yearly cash ISA allowance into your Account at any time. You can do this by:
(a) transfer from a cash ISA with another ISA manager, which you have subscribed to in the same tax year (in which case you must complete a cash ISA Transfer Authority Form as part of your application); or
(b) sending a cheque made payable to yourself e.g. Mr A Smith, to Saga Savings Team, PO Box 2264, Pendeford Business Park, Wobaston Road, Wolverhampton, WV9 5HZ; or
(c) transferring money from other accounts you hold with us. Call us on 0845 850 0664 if you’d like to discuss this further.
3.2 You can also transfer any cash ISA account with us or another ISA manager, which you have subscribed to in previous tax years, into your Account (in which case you must complete a cash ISA Transfer Authority Form as part of your application).
3.3 The maximum amount you can pay into a cash ISA in any tax year is set by HMRC. To find out the latest allowance contact us or HMRC.
3.4 You can make a payment or withdrawal from your Account at any time. After making a payment or withdrawal you will not be able to pay more money into your Account, if it means you pay in more than the yearly cash ISA allowance set by HMRC.
3.5 You can ask to transfer all subscriptions made to your Account during the current tax year, and / or the whole or part of your cash ISA deposits (and interest) from a previous tax year or years, to a cash ISA or a Stocks and Shares ISA with another ISA provider, in which case you must complete a transfer application with your new provider who will send another transfer application to us. Within 5 working days of receiving the transfer application from your new provider, we will send your money and information to your new provider.
4. INTEREST
4.1 The interest rate is variable. You can find out the current interest rates for our Account at www.saga.co.uk/savings
4.2 Interest is calculated daily.
4.3 The Account pays a variable interest rate. The variable rate excluding bonus will be no less than 2.00% below the Bank of England Bank Rate, subject to a maximum of 8.00% AER and a minimum of 0.25% AER.
4.4 For the yearly interest option, we’ll pay you interest 12 months after your first deposit, then six months after the first payment of interest (which is 18 months after your first deposit) and after that, yearly. For the monthly interest option, interest will be paid on the first day of the month.
4.5 Interest will be credited to your Account, or you can choose to have it paid to another Saga account or to another Bank or Building Society account. Interest payments from a Saga Savings account to another Bank or Building Society account will reach the other account on the next bank working day.
4.6 As long as you and your Account continue to qualify, interest will be paid tax-free.
5. CHANGES TO THE ISA REGULATIONS
5.1 Any changes made by HMRC to ISA Regulations that affect these conditions will apply as soon as they come into force.
5.2 Favourable tax treatment for ISAs may not be maintained (the Government is responsible for decisions about tax treatment).
6. OTHER TERMS
6.1 We are required to provide details of all ISA holders to HMRC. If you are or become non resident in the UK, HMRC may be required to share this information with tax authorities in your country of residence.
6.2 We will send you a statement 12 months after your first deposit, then six months after the first statement (which is 18 months after your first deposit) and then yearly after that.
6.3 We will send you a duplicate statement on request.
6.4 We may delegate any function or responsibilities under this agreement to a third party. If we do so, we will first satisfy ourselves that the third party is competent to carry out those functions and responsibilities.
7. CLOSING YOUR ACCOUNT
7.1 You can close your Account at any time and any interest earned will be tax-free. If you have made a deposit into your Account in the same tax year as you close it, you cannot open a new cash ISA for the same tax year.
7.2 If your Account stops qualifying as an ISA we will close it and notify you. We will deduct income tax at the appropriate rate on the interest earned on your deposit so far, including any interest you have already been paid. The tax will be deducted from your Account before the balance is paid to you.
7.3 Your Account will cease to qualify as an ISA and become subject to the deduction of income tax in the following circumstances:
(a) if the terms of the declaration on the application form are or become untrue;
(b) if you transfer any of your rights as an account holder or use your Account as security for a financial liability;
(c) from the date of your death; or
(d) if HMRC instruct us accordingly.
7.4 If you die, your Account balance will normally be paid to your estate. When we receive notice of your death we will close your Account and pay any interest earned up to the date of death tax free. We will transfer the balance to a new variable account on which interest earned will not be tax free.
7.5 We will notify you if, by reason of any failure to satisfy the provisions of HMRC ISA Regulations, your Account becomes or will become subject to the deduction of tax.
8. COOLING OFF
8.1 If you apply for an Account you will be able to change your mind and cancel your account at any time before the end of the 14-day period starting on the day your Account is opened or the day you receive your welcome letter, whichever is later. If you cancel your Account you are free to subscribe to another ISA in the same tax year. If you decide to cancel we will repay you any money you have paid together with any interest due on it, or help you to switch the balance to another account. To cancel this agreement you should tell us by writing to us at Saga Savings Team, PO Box 2264, Pendeford Business Park, Wobaston Road, Wolverhampton, WV9 5HZ. There are no charges for cancelling your Account agreement, and you do not have to give any advance notice.
Issue date: 8 April 2013