Can anyone help? :-)

deckard_2

Hey there chums,

I'm new to this board...Basically, I recently received £3,900 from the criminal injuries fund after being assaulted two years ago,(the !!!!!! caught me by surprise !) . I want to put his money into an account with the best interest rate, but I won't be making regular payments just putting this sum in and not touching it so it can grow a bit. Any idea which is the best (UK) account for this sum?
Cheers
Deackard

Cannon_Fodder

Have you used your ISA allowance?

If not, NS&I Cash ISA at 5.80% tax free...£3000 now, the other £900 after 6th April - after checking in March they are still top rate, of course.

I bet it will be nice to see the !!!!!'s money grow for your benefit.

deckard_2

Hey Cannon Fodder
thanks fr that mate,
Sorry but I'm young and stupid!- what is an ISA? and how do I get one?
Yes the !!!! himself will be paying up through the courts soon hopefully as well!!
Cheers
Deckard

pbw

an ISA is a savings account where you get interest tax-free. read more about it here...

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/cgi-bin/viewnews.cgi?newsid1045408312,40680,

NS&I offer 5.80% interest at the moment.

you can apply for it at https://www.nationalsavings.co.uk

hehe, the !!!!!!!!!!'s money would increase by about £226 a year

dancingfairy

a cash mini ISA the type being talked about here is basically a savings account which you can put up to £3000 in per year and you get the interest tax free. Even if you don't currently pay tax it still pays a better interest rate and is worth having for when you do have to pay tax. You go to the branch (if it's a branch one or to the webpage and ) and follow the instructions with regards to the type of id required.

You should be able to put money in and out as you like (according to the terms and conditions of the account) but you are not allowed to put in more than £3000 per year (regardless of whether you take any out or not) so if you put in £3000 and took out some you could not put it back in at a later time as you would have already credited so far this tax year £3000. You are only allowed one account of this type per tax year. (The government don't want us earning too much interest tax-free!!).

There is a lower age limit (16 or 18 I'm not sure) and you have to be UK resident but that's pretty much it. If you've got any more question's just shout.

Cannon_Fodder

Have a read here http://www.nsandi.com/products/disa/index.jsp

ISA stands for Individual Savings Account. Cash versions pay Interest free of tax. So 5.8% is 5.8%.

It operates over each tax year - April to April. So you have time to open one now with the first £3000 - the annual limit - to earn a couple of months interest and use the allowance up - then put the rest in after 6th April.

When you get some more dosh out of him, another £2100 could go in before April 2008...and so on, keep putting it in - hoping its a nice big wack!!

deckard_2

Cheers cannonfodder,dancing fairy and pbw!!

Great advice, could I put in the whole 3,900 and still get the best interest rate? what do I need to open one of these accounts? I'm currently unemployed does that make any difference?
cheers pals
by the way he hit me cos he thought I'd used his milk!

pbw

u can't put in the whole 3900 all at once. put in 3000 anytime before april 5th and put in the other 900 after april 6th

Jake'sGran

deckard wrote:

Cheers cannonfodder,dancing fairy and pbw!!

Great advice, could I put in the whole 3,900 and still get the best interest rate? what do I need to open one of these accounts? I'm currently unemployed does that make any difference?
cheers pals
by the way he hit me cos he thought I'd used his milk!

No, in a cash mini ISA you can only put £3000, no more. I was wondering if you could put it in the Birmingham Midshires Bond paying 6.05% for just one year (no withdrawals) as you probably would not be paying tax anyway unless you get a decent job in the very near future. If you have worked in the present tax year 2005-6 you may have earned enough money so that you are a taxpayer. You'd need to work it out.