Is an ISA without photo ID possible?

friolento

If you are both basic rate tax payers, you both have a £1,000 per annum savings interest allowance - meaning you can earn up to £1,000 tax-free interest each. ISAs would only benefit you if you expect to get more interest than that.

Tax is not automatically deducted from savings interest. This stopped about 10 years ago.

The best savings rates are not normally with banks but with smaller building societies or new fintech companies. Though there are some exceptions - for example Santander and Natwest/RBS have some good accounts for smaller amounts. If you want to benefit from the best rates, you might also require proof of ID, and it might therefore be worth the one-off investment for a government issued photo ID. Whilst there is an upfront cost, it's effectively a tenner a year for the next ten years for a passport.

Also make sure you are on the Electoral Register, and that your name and address are correctly reflected on your credit reference files.

Once you have a passport and proof of address, you can also engage with current account switch offers which pay up to £200 a go - easily more than a passport costs. You wouldn't need to switch your main account, it can easily be done with what we know as donor or burner accounts. Many forumites have made hundreds from those switch offers over the years, some in the region of £2,000…………

Ravenscall

Thanks @friolento . Yes neither of us have enough income to pay tax. Thanks for the update I hadn't realised that about savings interest as its been years since I had a savings account.

Yes we are both on the Electoral Register but private. Most things are in my name only which I think is why I don't get asked for ID (even though I have it) but he does.

I have a driving licence so don't need a passport and we are loathe to pay for one for my husband when we can get by without.

I'll have a browse of savings accounts rates before we finally decide thank you.

masonic

You could consider putting an account or two in his name to avoid this sort of thing happening in the future.

Albermarle

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81992284#Comment_81992284

In fact if your income is low enough that you are not paying any tax, then you can actually earn £6000 in interest without paying tax.

So no need to bother with ISAs which are more complicated than normal savings account.

Probably worth while having a good read through this.

Savings | MoneySavingExpert

p00hsticks

I'm not sure it's still accepted, but in the years before I gave in and forked out for a passport, I used to call HMRC and ask if they could send me an official tax coding notice, to act in place of a benefits letter. They were well used to the request and the reason for it.

Ocelot

Strange, I've never been asked for a photo ID in 27 years of opening ISAs.

Ravenscall

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81992307#Comment_81992307

I've just seen that while browsing the information about Savings Accounts when I was looking to see if they were preferable to an ISA.

I actually find my ISA not complicated at all. It was easy to open and its been easy to transfer money in and out of. And I had (wrongly) assumed that all that would be needed for my husband to open one too would be for him to provide a nominated bank account and NI number, as I did. While as for a savings account, even a joint one, he would need ID he doesn't have. Unfortunately the savings accounts with our current back pay very poor interest so that would be a last resort.

Ravenscall

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81992326#Comment_81992326

He has his P45 tax code from the pension but all the accounts we've tried so far are asking for photo ID unless you are on benefits (there seems to an assumption that if you don't drive or go abroad you are on benefits 😂).

Ravenscall

Many thanks for all the responses. We are thinking that the easiest option is just to transfer his money from the current account to my ISA as I'm not using my allowance.

I am going to phone Saga though first on Monday, to see if it it is possible for him to open a savings account with them without a passport or driving licence. They have a good interest rate, I currently hold an ISA with them and I'm thinking they should be used to people not having photo ID!

Ravenscall

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81992400#Comment_81992400

Me neither! That's why I was so surprised. And there is no reason as far as I can see - he's worked all his life and just retired (early) in his 60s. Unless it is, as others have mentioned, that there is little already in his name apart from a joint bank account and council tax bill.