Savings FAQs

You can have more than one ISA, but there are some rules you need to know. Read about the rules and the potential benefits of having more than one type of ISA.

How many ISAs can you have?

The ISA allowance for this tax year is £20,000. To find out more about how you can use your allowance, visit our ISA allowance page.

ISA allowance

Not all ISAs allow transfers in/out – you can find out if your ISA allows them in your ISA product terms and conditions.

You can find all the information you need to transfer your ISA on our Transferring your ISA page.

Transferring your ISA

Transfers between Cash ISAs usually take up to seven business days whilst transfers in from a Stocks & Shares, Innovative Finance or Lifetime ISAs can take up to 30 calendar days.

For more information on ISA transfers visit our Transferring your ISA page.

Transferring your ISA

Even if your spouse or civil partner left the money in their ISA to someone else, you can still inherit an ISA allowance based on how much they had saved in ISAs. This additional allowance, known as an Additional Permitted Subscription, means you can increase the amount you can save tax-free.

You can find out more about inheriting ISA allowances or funds from an ISA on our Additional Permitted Subscriptions page, or on our bereavement page, which explains what happens to savings accounts when someone has passed away.

If you’re saving for something big that’s more than five years away, a savings account might not give you the best returns. If you're comfortable with the risks involved, you might want to consider a Stocks and Shares ISA instead.

You can find more information on our Stocks and Shares ISA page.

Stocks & Shares ISA

An ISA, or Individual Savings Account, offers a tax-efficient way of saving because you don’t pay any income tax on the interest you earn.

Tax rules may change in future.

Discover the ISA basics, including the different types of ISAs and which might be right for you on our page below.

What is an ISA?

There are different rules that apply depending on when your account was opened and the reason for your withdrawal.

Please see our Lifetime ISA withdrawal charges page.

Lifetime ISA withdrawal charges

HMRC will calculate bonus payments for your Lifetime ISA on a month-by-month basis. Your bonus is calculated on any payments you make into your account from the 6th of the month to the 5th of the following month. Your bonus will be paid into your account within 14 days of the 20th of month two.

The day we receive payment from HMRC, we pay it directly into your account, so you don’t lose any interest.

If the terms of your account allow it, there are a number of ways you can pay into your savings account.

Each Skipton account may have different options for paying in. Please refer to your savings product terms and conditions to check how and when payments in are allowed.

If you're making a payment into an ISA and you've not paid in during the previous tax year, you may need to reconfirm your ISA declaration before making a payment. Please contact us to make sure your payment can be accepted.

Bank payment

You’ll need to set up instructions with your bank. If you want to set this up before your account matures you can set up a future dated payment in advance.

To pay money into your Skipton account from another UK bank or building society, please use the bank details below:

• Account holder name: Your full name
• Sort code: 20-78-91
• Account number: 70798924
• Reference: Your 9-digit Skipton account number

Debit card payment

Where your account was opened online you can pay in through Skipton Online or in the Skipton app.

Alternatively, visit any branch or call us on 0345 608 0783.

Other payment methods

To see other ways you can pay into your account, please visit our Ways to Pay in page.

Ways to Pay in

There are different options available to you depending on where you opened your account and your account terms and conditions. Please refer to your savings product terms and conditions to check how and when withdrawals are allowed. You can also visit our Withdrawing page for more information.

Withdrawing

To help make sure your payments go to the right place, we now use an industry wide service called Confirmation of Payee (CoP).

When you, or others make a payment into a Skipton account, we’ll check the details provided against those on the payee's account and confirm if these match. If a payment is processed after we have confirmed the name doesn’t match, the payment may be sent to the wrong account and we might not be able to recover the money.

When you add a nominated bank account to make withdrawals, we will check the name on the receiving account matches the details on your Skipton account.

You can request to opt out of your details being checked when people send payments to your Skipton account. We'll only agree to an opt out request in exceptional circumstances.

If your opt out request is approved, you can opt back in at any time using the same form. To proceed with your opt out request, you'll need to complete the Confirmation of Payee Opt Out form [PDF] and provide identification.

Please see the Proving Your Identity leaflet [PDF] for details of acceptable documents and ways you can provide them.

If your account allows regular withdrawals, the easiest way to set up a standing order is to use our web chat service using the pink chat icon which will display at the bottom of the screen when it is available.

There are a couple of reasons why this might have happened. The first thing to do is to make sure that the address on your bank account matches the one we have on file. Addresses that don’t match are the most common reason for a card to be declined.

It could also be because you’re attempting to pay a large sum. Occasionally your bank may stop the payment for security purposes.

If you’ve checked these and the payment is still being declined, please contact us.

This is where a fraudster tricks you into transferring money to them. They may pose as a legitimate service provider, reputable business or even your family and friends and ask you to send money to an account that they control. They will want you to do it in a hurry so you don’t have time to think, and they may ask you to lie to your bank about any withdrawals or transfers. Alternatively, they might pose as your bank or even the police and any messages can be made to look like they come from a genuine email address or phone number.

Fraudsters may also try to convince you they are a genuine well-known business contacting you about a legal or fraud issue. They are likely to ask you to lie to your bank or building society about any withdrawals. A genuine business would never ask you to do this.

If you are caught out by this type of scam and have sent money using faster payment or CHAPS you may be able to claim a refund, you can find out more about Authorised Push Payment scams and new reimbursement rules on our SAFE Hub page.

If you’re registered for Skipton Online, you can:

• You can update your email, postal address or telephone number(s) in Skipton Online. Log in to your account and then visit the ‘Personal Details’ section which you’ll find on the left hand side.

You’ll need your extra layer of security to hand. This can be either your Secure Passcode within the mobile app or your One-Time Code.

Other ways to update your details:

• You can update your telephone number, email or postal address by calling us on 0345 266 0978, in branch or by writing to us. If you’d like to change your postal address over the phone, you’ll need to have set up a memorable word for telephone access.

If we don't have your signature on file and you're changing your details by post or in branch, we may ask you to provide verification of your signature.

If your savings account was opened in branch, by post, or over the phone, you will receive your Certificate of Investment within 30 days of your account opening or maturity date. If it was opened online you will not receive a Certificate of Investment as you can view your account information on Skipton Online or in the Skipton app.

We will contact you 14 days before your account is due to mature and we’ll explain then what you will need to do. If you want to find out more, please visit our page on Maturing savings accounts.

Maturing savings accounts

With a Child Trust Fund or a Junior Cash ISA, withdrawals are not allowed until the child is 18. At that point, only the child can close the account and withdraw their savings.

With a Children’s Saver account, withdrawals can be made in branch or by post. We don’t need any notice and there are no penalties.

In most cases, when the child reaches 18, we'll add any interest due to the account and then transfer the money into an easy access account for adults. Check your product terms and conditions for more information.

Any operator or registered contact remaining on the child's account will be removed. We'll write to the account holder in advance with full details of the new account and with any other options available at the time.

Please note – if you’re a trustee on an account held for a child, you will not be removed from the account at this time.

There’s lots of help and support available to you. You can find out more and exactly what you need to do next on our Bereavement page.

Bereavement

Your £250 allowance refreshes on the 1st of each month.

You can’t withdraw part of your account balance during the 12-month term; however, you can close your account at any time and withdraw the full balance.

You can close your account at any time.