The current annual ISA allowance is £20,000
It’s set by the Government and could change in the future. If you have not used all your allowance there’s still time. View our cash ISAs.
If you use all the allowance, you cannot make more deposits with us until next tax year.
How to make the most of your ISA allowance
You cannot carry over any unused allowance into the next tax year, so it could be tax efficient to deposit as much as you can, each tax year, to use more of your annual ISA allowance.
You can ask your provider to do an ISA transfer to move some or all of the money in a cash ISA to another ISA. As long as you do this by ISA transfer, the money you transfer will not count towards your ISA allowance a second time, and will keep its tax-free status.
When is the ISA deadline?
The ISA deadline is on 5 April, and the tax year runs from 6 April to 5 April. If you make any deposits into an ISA after this date, they’ll count towards the next year’s ISA allowance.
What should I do before the ISA deadline?
Make the most of your allowance for this tax year by topping up your cash ISA before the 6 April. When the tax year ends, cash ISAs will stay open and savings will keep any tax-free status.
If you do not make any deposits in your cash ISA with us in a whole tax year, it will become inactive and you’ll need to refresh it. You may want to make a deposit to avoid this. Tap ‘Do I need to open a new cash ISA each tax year?’ within our managing cash ISA FAQs below to read how to refresh your ISA.
Want to transfer between ISAs?
You can move money by ISA transfer to another cash ISA (with us or another provider). Do not transfer it yourself or it will lose any tax-free status.
Your existing Co-operative Bank cash ISA
Instant access cash ISAs
Your account will stay open and your savings will keep any tax-free status. In the new tax year you can either:
- Continue depositing into the account
- Deposit into a different cash ISA with us – you can open a new one if needed.
You can also do an ISA transfer to another cash ISA.
Fixed rate cash ISAs
Your account will stay open and your savings will keep any tax-free status until maturity (after 1 or 2 years).
What happens when my account matures?
You can choose to reinvest some or all of your money in a new fixed rate cash ISA, do an ISA transfer to another cash ISA, or both. If you leave any money in your account, we’ll move it to an instant access cash ISA.
Do I need to open a new cash ISA each tax year?
You do not need to open a new cash ISA every tax year. Once the end of the tax year approaches, your existing cash ISA will roll into the next year, where you can take advantage of that year's ISA allowance.
However, if you do not pay any money into your existing ISA during a whole tax year and you then want to pay in more money, you'll need to refresh your ISA. To do this, you'll need to send a secure message from your online banking or call us on +44(0) 3457 212 212 call charges to refresh your ISA. Lines are open Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm, and Saturday and Sunday 9am - 5pm.
You may need to make a new declaration if you want to make a deposit in a different tax year.
What happens if I put too much money into my cash ISA?
If you attempt to pay too much into your ISA, we'll return the full amount of the payment which took you over your tax-free savings limit. This will be returned to you within 5 business days.
How many cash ISAs can I have?
You can open and pay into multiple cash ISAs per tax year. You can also keep cash ISAs from previous years open and pay into them.
Please note: while The Co-operative Bank does not allow customers to pay into multiple cash ISAs with them in the same tax year, customers are able to deposit with The Co-operative Bank as well as other providers in the same tax year.
If you wish to transfer a cash ISA from the current or previous tax year your current provider must allow this. It’s important to read any terms and conditions before deciding to transfer or open a new cash ISA.
How do ISA transfers work?
You can move money by ISA transfers to another cash ISA (with us or another provider). Do not transfer it yourself or it will lose any tax-free status.
Find out more about transferring your ISA.
If someone dies, what happens to their savings?
If a customer dies on or before 5 April 2018, the tax-free status of the cash ISA will end on the date of death. We will pay any additional interest earned after that date, but this may be taxable.
However, a change in the ISA rules means that if a customer dies on or after 6 April 2018, the account will continue to earn tax-free interest after death, until one of the following occur:
- The completion of the administration of the estate
- The closure of the account
- The third anniversary of the death of the account holder
The amount payable on death is the balance of the cash ISA, plus any interest earned.
Do you need legal support?
We’ve partnered with Co-op Legal Services, who provide advice and regulated legal support for:
- Will writing and estate planning
- Probate and estate administration.
Top up your cash ISA
There are multiple ways you can top up your cash ISA. Find information on topping up your cash ISA.
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Changes to ISAs from 6 April 2024
The Government has made changes to simplify ISAs and make them more flexible.
- Other banks may have taken a different approach to these changes.
- The annual ISA allowance still applies across all your ISAs.
What you can do with us
- You can open a cash ISA if you’re aged 18 or over.
- You can deposit into cash ISAs with us and with other providers in the same tax year.
What you cannot do with us
- You cannot deposit into more than one cash ISA with us in the same tax year.
- You cannot deposit into your cash ISA if it has become inactive because you did not deposit in it during a whole tax year – you’ll need to refresh the cash ISA.
- You cannot do an ISA transfer of just part of your ISA deposits in the current tax year - they must be transferred in full or not at all.
Savings terms explained
AER stands for Annual Equivalent Rate and shows what the interest rate would be if interest were paid and added to your account each year.
Business day is usually Monday to Friday excluding bank holidays.
Calendar month means from midnight on the first day of a month to 11.59:59pm on the last day of the month.
Fixed interest means the rate stays the same until the account matures.
Gross is the rate of interest payable before any tax is taken off.
Tax-free means you will not pay any tax on your interest.
Tax year runs from 6 April to 5 April.
Variable interest means that it could go up or down.
Please note: any reference to tax is based on our understanding of current tax regulations which may change in the future and depend on the customer's individual financial circumstances.
The Co-operative Bank reserves the right to decline or accept any application and/or deposit.
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Financial Services Compensation Scheme
Your eligible deposits held by a UK establishment of The Co-operative Bank p.l.c. are protected up to a total of £85,000 by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme, the UK's deposit guarantee scheme. This limit is applied to the total of any deposits you have with The Co-operative Bank and smile. Any total deposits you hold above the limit between these brands are unlikely to be covered.
Please read further information on the FSCS scheme here or visit their website.
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