What should I do with £38,000 in Lloyds savings account

PlanningfortheFuture_2

I'm living and working and paying French Tax at the moment, have a mortgage here and trying to sell and move back to the UK to be with my partner as soon as I can sell this place.
I've £38,000 in a basic Lloyds Bank Flexible Savings Account earning net 0.08% interest.
I'm sure you've to be paying UK Tax at the moment to be able to open a ISA account.

Do I have a better option?

jimjames

Plenty of better options than ISAs. You can get 5% before tax.

Depends if you're able to open a UK current account to access them though.

PlanningfortheFuture_2

Checked it out, best I can see is 3% on the Santander 123 account, which wont be beneficial as I've no domestic bills that I could use. Other saving accounts 1.5-1.4% as I can see

eskbanker

PlanningfortheFuture wrote: »

Checked it out, best I can see is 3% on the Santander 123 account, which wont be beneficial as I've no domestic bills that I could use. Other saving accounts 1.5-1.4% as I can see

Even with the £2 monthly 123 fee not being offset by any qualifying DDs, it's still a better option than 1.5%, as the £24 doesn't make much of a hole in £20K's worth of interest, whatever tax rate you're on!

Other current accounts offer 4 or 5% (see http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/latesttip/#savings) but on much smaller amounts so you'd need to open multiple accounts to achieve this, not completely painless but not rocket science either....

As jimjames says though, all of this assumes that you can qualify to open UK accounts, many have residency requirements for new account openings.

PlanningfortheFuture_2

I'll have to look into this, not quite sure, will I have to open 2 accounts with Santander to transfer my amount. Notice I also need a UK phone number to set up the account so I'll get myself a SIM card while back in the UK this weekend

eskbanker

PlanningfortheFuture wrote: »

I'll have to look into this, not quite sure, will I have to open 2 accounts with Santander to transfer my amount. Notice I also need a UK phone number to set up the account so I'll get myself a SIM card while back in the UK this weekend

Although you'd need two to get round the £20K limit on 123 interest, Santander limit it to one single and one joint account per person, i.e. you can only get two if one is a joint one....

PlanningfortheFuture_2

Thanks for the reply .. looks like I'm a bit snookered

innovate

PlanningfortheFuture wrote: »

I'll have to look into this, not quite sure, will I have to open 2 accounts with Santander to transfer my amount. Notice I also need a UK phone number to set up the account so I'll get myself a SIM card while back in the UK this weekend

A UK phone number would be the least of your worries (although you MUST have a UK mobile to operate the 123 successfully). You also need a UK address, be on the Electoral Register at that address, and have a records at the CRAs.

If you have none, or just some, of these, you are unlikely to be able to apply online. You would need to go into a Branch, armed with passport and proof of address (bank statement, utility bill, tax code notice etc). Best make an appointment beforehand.

You can have 2 123s but one of them must be in joint names, and similar ID requirements as above are probably required from the other person.