Shawbrook ISA useful quirk?

charlie12525

Shawbrook are offering a 5 year fixed rate ISA at 4.25%.

Their terms state that you can add new ISA funds to your Shawbrook Cash ISA each tax year until the expiry of the fixed term.

You can open this ISA with £1000. For the next 5 years you have the option of either adding 20k per year at 4.25% fixed or putting your allowance elsewhere depending on where rates go.

Seems like a good deal?

Albermarle

This is one of Shawbrook's big selling points, although there are a handful of other providers who also allow new contributions to an ISA through a fixed term.

Although when you do sign up, some of the paperwork you receive is a bit ambiguous on this point, as it mixes up ISA and non ISA ( accounts) rules. With the latter there is more restriction on what you can add later.

However it has been clarified in other threads on the subject that you can add up to £20Kpa . In fact I have added a few grand to mine recently and it is more than a year since I opened it.

Note though that transfers in are only definitely allowed in the first 30? days. After that they are only allowed at their discretion.

clairec666

I opened a 5-year fix with Shawbrook a couple of months ago, with the intention of making use of this quirk. I recall reading something in my welcome letter/email (which I can't currently find...) that implied they'd closed this loophole, yet other forum members have confirmed that they've been able to add money throughout the term. There's some slightly ambiguous wording in their T&Cs - in one place it says "Deposits can be made into your account until the product is withdrawn", yet somewhere else it implies that you can add money each year.

Shawbrook have protected themselves somewhat against people taking advantage of this quirk - you can only subscribe to one ISA with them each tax year, and the minimum balance is £1000. So you can't speculatively open lots of ISAs with them and pump in money later when the rate drops. Annoyingly, I grabbed their 5-year fix when it was at 4.12%, so can't make use of the current 4.25% fix.

sammy_zammy

clairec666 said:

the minimum balance is £1000.

Not exactly - the minimum balance to earn interest is £1000. You can leave an ISA with a balance of zero for as long as you like.

clairec666

sammy_zammy said:

clairec666 said:

the minimum balance is £1000.

Not exactly - the minimum balance to earn interest is £1000. You can leave an ISA with a balance of zero for as long as you like.

Hah, yes that's true. So I guess you could open it now and not fund it. You're still restricted by "only subscribing to one Shawbrook ISA per tax year" though.

Albermarle

clairec666 said:

I opened a 5-year fix with Shawbrook a couple of months ago, with the intention of making use of this quirk. I recall reading something in my welcome letter/email (which I can't currently find...) that implied they'd closed this loophole, yet other forum members have confirmed that they've been able to add money throughout the term. There's some slightly ambiguous wording in their T&Cs - in one place it says "Deposits can be made into your account until the product is withdrawn", yet somewhere else it implies that you can add money each year.

Shawbrook have protected themselves somewhat against people taking advantage of this quirk - you can only subscribe to one ISA with them each tax year, and the minimum balance is £1000. So you can't speculatively open lots of ISAs with them and pump in money later when the rate drops. Annoyingly, I grabbed their 5-year fix when it was at 4.12%, so can't make use of the current 4.25% fix.

I actually contacted Shawbrook directly about this and they admitted the wording was poor, and the bit about adding only until the product is withdrawn only related to their non ISA products.

clairec666

Albermarle said:

clairec666 said:

I opened a 5-year fix with Shawbrook a couple of months ago, with the intention of making use of this quirk. I recall reading something in my welcome letter/email (which I can't currently find...) that implied they'd closed this loophole, yet other forum members have confirmed that they've been able to add money throughout the term. There's some slightly ambiguous wording in their T&Cs - in one place it says "Deposits can be made into your account until the product is withdrawn", yet somewhere else it implies that you can add money each year.

Shawbrook have protected themselves somewhat against people taking advantage of this quirk - you can only subscribe to one ISA with them each tax year, and the minimum balance is £1000. So you can't speculatively open lots of ISAs with them and pump in money later when the rate drops. Annoyingly, I grabbed their 5-year fix when it was at 4.12%, so can't make use of the current 4.25% fix.

I actually contacted Shawbrook directly about this and they admitted the wording was poor, and the bit about adding only until the product is withdrawn only related to their non ISA products.

Good to know, thanks. A lot of their FAQs seem to be a copy + paste job and not specific to each account.

charlie12525

From the Shawbrook website...

Summary Box

5 Year Fixed Rate Cash ISA - Issue 62

How do I open and manage the account?

You can only open and operate one Cash ISA with Shawbrook in any single tax year. 

You add new ISA funds to your Shawbrook Cash ISA each tax year until the expiry of the fixed term, but there's a limit set by the UK government. For 2025-2026, that limit is £20,000 each tax year. The tax year runs between 6 April to 5 April. If you have more than one ISA account, this £20,000 limit applies to all of them together for that tax year.

The wording is poor. I think there is a missing word and the sentence above should read.. 

You CAN add new ISA funds to your Shawbrook Cash ISA each tax year until the expiry of the fixed term...

I am opening this account today with a partial transfer of about 10k from a soon to mature RBS fixed term ISA.

It is a good rate for a 5 year account but the main reason for me is the ability to top it up for the next 5 years at 4.25% when the forecast trajectory for rates is downwards over this period.

Albermarle

charlie12525 said:

From the Shawbrook website...

Summary Box

5 Year Fixed Rate Cash ISA - Issue 62

How do I open and manage the account?

You can only open and operate one Cash ISA with Shawbrook in any single tax year. 

You add new ISA funds to your Shawbrook Cash ISA each tax year until the expiry of the fixed term, but there's a limit set by the UK government. For 2025-2026, that limit is £20,000 each tax year. The tax year runs between 6 April to 5 April. If you have more than one ISA account, this £20,000 limit applies to all of them together for that tax year.

The wording is poor. I think there is a missing word and the sentence above should read.. 

You CAN add new ISA funds to your Shawbrook Cash ISA each tax year until the expiry of the fixed term...

I am opening this account today with a partial transfer of about 10k from a soon to mature RBS fixed term ISA.

It is a good rate for a 5 year account but the main reason for me is the ability to top it up for the next 5 years at 4.25% when the forecast trajectory for rates is downwards over this period.

From my experience, the info you receive after opening the account is the worse part , as it seems to contradict the above ( as mentioned in my post above)

35har1old

Albermarle said:

charlie12525 said:

From the Shawbrook website...

Summary Box

5 Year Fixed Rate Cash ISA - Issue 62

How do I open and manage the account?

You can only open and operate one Cash ISA with Shawbrook in any single tax year. 

You add new ISA funds to your Shawbrook Cash ISA each tax year until the expiry of the fixed term, but there's a limit set by the UK government. For 2025-2026, that limit is £20,000 each tax year. The tax year runs between 6 April to 5 April. If you have more than one ISA account, this £20,000 limit applies to all of them together for that tax year.

The wording is poor. I think there is a missing word and the sentence above should read.. 

You CAN add new ISA funds to your Shawbrook Cash ISA each tax year until the expiry of the fixed term...

I am opening this account today with a partial transfer of about 10k from a soon to mature RBS fixed term ISA.

It is a good rate for a 5 year account but the main reason for me is the ability to top it up for the next 5 years at 4.25% when the forecast trajectory for rates is downwards over this period.

From my experience, the info you receive after opening the account is the worse part , as it seems to contradict the above ( as mentioned in my post above)

Does the one account rule apply when your are transferring in only no new money added 

Albermarle

35har1old said:

Albermarle said:

charlie12525 said:

From the Shawbrook website...

Summary Box

5 Year Fixed Rate Cash ISA - Issue 62

How do I open and manage the account?

You can only open and operate one Cash ISA with Shawbrook in any single tax year. 

You add new ISA funds to your Shawbrook Cash ISA each tax year until the expiry of the fixed term, but there's a limit set by the UK government. For 2025-2026, that limit is £20,000 each tax year. The tax year runs between 6 April to 5 April. If you have more than one ISA account, this £20,000 limit applies to all of them together for that tax year.

The wording is poor. I think there is a missing word and the sentence above should read.. 

You CAN add new ISA funds to your Shawbrook Cash ISA each tax year until the expiry of the fixed term...

I am opening this account today with a partial transfer of about 10k from a soon to mature RBS fixed term ISA.

It is a good rate for a 5 year account but the main reason for me is the ability to top it up for the next 5 years at 4.25% when the forecast trajectory for rates is downwards over this period.

From my experience, the info you receive after opening the account is the worse part , as it seems to contradict the above ( as mentioned in my post above)

Does the one account rule apply when your are transferring in only no new money added 

I would presume so, as you would still have to open an ISA to transfer in.