Frequently asked questions:
Adult Savings

Investment ISA

To be eligible to open a Investment ISA, you must be aged 18 years old and a UK resident.

Bonus Plan

To be eligible to open a Bonus Plan, you must be aged between 18 and 60 years old and a UK resident.

Investment ISA

You can have one Investment ISA and one cash ISA each tax year. However, you are able to transfer an ISA from one provider to another.

Bonus Plan

The Bonus Plan is a ‘Qualifying Life Policy’. You can have multiple Bonus Plans up to a maxiumum premium of £2,400 a year, as long as your annual savings in this kind of plan (combined with other providers) does not exceed £3,600 a year. However, only £300 a year can be tax-efficient so any payments, above this level to any additional Bonus Plans will be subject to tax on the investment growth.

You must be 18 to have a Investment ISA. However, we do offer a Junior ISA, which is the child friendly version of the ISA. When the child turns 18, they can then transfer their Junior ISA into an adult ISA.

You can open our Investment ISA with a single payment from £100, and can then save flexibly up to the annual allowance. Our Bonus Plan offers saving via monthly or annual Direct Debit payments only.

You will receive your voucher code via email. To find out more about when you will receive your voucher visit our Love2Shop terms and conditions.

Investment ISA

Our Investment ISA is tax-efficient meaning that there will not be any income tax or capital gains tax to pay on the growth of the plan. Any money withdrawn can also be done so tax-free.

Bonus Plan

Growth on deposits of up to £300 a year is tax-efficient.

We aim to pay an annual bonus into the plans, which will reflect the performance of the With Profits fund over the previous year. You can find out more about past performance here:

Investment ISA

Bonus Plan

Please remember that past performance is not a guide to how the plan could perform in the future, and although we can never take bonuses away once they have been paid, we may not pay one in years when performance is particularly poor.

Each of our plans has an annual allowance.

Investment ISA

The annual ISA allowance can vary each tax-year. The allowance is set by HM Government and usually rises in line with the Consumer Prices Index, and in tax year 2019/2020 the allowance is £20,000. The allowance is due to rise to £20,000 in tax year 2018/2019, which would see an increase in excess of the CPI.

Bonus Plan

Your maximum annual tax-efficient premium for your Bonus Plan is £300. You can save up to £2,400 a year, but any savings over £300 will be subject to normal tax rules on investment growth.

Investment ISA

You can save from £30 a month right up to a maximum of £1,270 a month. You can also invest lump sums in your account at any time, as long as you don’t exceed your full annual ISA allowance. If you prefer to pay in lump sums, the initial deposit must be a minimum of £100.

Bonus Plan

You can save either monthly or annually via Direct Debit. If you are saving monthly, then you can save from £10 a month, up to £25 a month.

Investment ISA

Your ISA allowance must be used before 6th April each year.

Bonus Plan

There is no annual deadline for the Bonus Plan.

Current Government regulations mean that you cannot carry any unused ISA allowance over to the next tax year.

There are a number of other tax-efficient savings plans that you could take advantage of, including our Bonus Plan, which lets you save up to £25 a month tax-efficiently, without affecting your ISA allowance.

We will invest your money in our With Profit Fund, which holds a mix of assets including stocks and shares, property, gilts, bonds and cash. The market values of these assets can move up and down over time. You can get more information on how your money is invested here:

Investment ISA

Bonus Plan

You will find this on the original plan documents that you receive when you open the plan. If you do not have these, simply call and request this information from our Customer Services team on SF_PHONE_NUMBER.

Investment ISA

Should you die while your ISA is still invested a death benefit will be paid to your estate. The amount payable will be 100% of your initial investment plus all bonuses which have been added and any final bonus which may be paid, subject to a minimum payment of 101% of your initial investment. If you are married or in a civil partnership, an ISA can be transferred to your Spouse or Civil Partner.

Bonus Plan

The Bonus Plan will provide a guaranteed sum based on your agreed premiums and your age when you open the plan. This guaranteed sum will be the lowest amount we will pay out if you die unless you have stopped paying your premiums. We will also include any yearly and final bonuses in the final amount we pay if you die.

Yes. Any money invested with Shepherds Friendly Society is covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme. The maximum level of compensation is currently 100% of the claim with no upper limit (correct at time of publishing - April 2017). The actual level of compensation you receive will depend on the basis of your claim.

Find out more information about the Financial Services Compensation Scheme.

If you phone our Customer Services team SF_PHONE_NUMBER, they will be able to tell you the current value of your plan. Alternatively, you can just check your annual statement.

Investment ISA

You can withdraw money from your ISA whenever you want. To make a withdrawal please email withdrawals@shepherdsfriendly.co.uk, please remember to include your plan number and to send your request from the email address you have registered with us. We normally transfer your money directly to your bank account, which means you should receive your money within a few working days. If you prefer, we can send you a cheque by post. However, you should remember that our ISA is a medium to long-term investment and that making regular withdrawals could reduce the value.

Bonus Plan

The Bonus Plan is designed as a long term savings plan and you cannot make regular withdrawals. If you find you need to withdraw your money before the end of the policy term, this may be possible but there could be tax implications for you if you do.

Any money you withdraw from your account will be paid to you tax-free. There is no fixed penalty for withdrawing money from your ISA. However, in poor market conditions, we may apply a Market Value Reduction (MVR).

If you withdraw money from your ISA then this will still count towards your annual ISA allowance. Regardless of how much money you withdraw during a single tax year, you cannot invest more than your annual allowance in combined payments within that tax year. That means if you use your full allowance and then make a withdrawal, you cannot pay that money back in during the same tax year.

Your original plan document will indicate the maturity date of the plan, at which point you can withdraw the money as a tax-free lump sum.

Investment ISA

You can add lump sum payments, subject to the maximum limit for any tax year, to your ISA by filling in the online form or by calling our Customer Services team on ?PHP echo SF_PHONE_NUMBER; ?>.

Bonus Plan

You cannot add money on top of any Direct Debit payments you are making into the plan, but you can take out additional plans, the value of which cannot exceed your annual combined allowance.

Investment ISA

You can suspend or reduce your monthly Direct Debit at any point. Just call our Customer Services team on SF_PHONE_NUMBER.

Bonus Plan

If you stop paying into the Bonus Plan before you have had it opened for 12 months, the plan will be cancelled, you will not receive any money saved to date and the life insurance element of the plan will cease. If your plan has been open for more than 12 months, you can receive a ‘cash value’ but the life insurance element will stop. If you receive the ‘cash value’, then we may apply a Market Value Reduction (MVR).

If you have changed your home address, you can let us know by calling our customer services team on SF_PHONE_NUMBER.

Investment ISA

We deduct charges from your investment to cover our expenses, and the cost of administering and managing your investments. Our charges currently stand at 3% as an initial plan charge and there is also an annual management charge of 1.5%.

Bonus Plan

We deduct charges from your Bonus Plan to cover our expenses, and the cost of administering and managing your investments. We will reduce the amount you get back from your Bonus Plan if you stop paying your premiums before the end date of the Bonus Plan.

For a 10 year Bonus Plan the effect of these charges are currently around 40% of the first year’s payments and 10% of each subsequent year's premium. These are the current charges that we apply but they may vary in future years in line with the expenses of the Society.

Key Information Documents:

Investment ISA (Regular)
Investment ISA (Single)
Bonus Plan

Investment ISA

You have 30 days from the date you open your account in which to cancel your Investment ISA and your money will be returned to you. If you cancel within the 30 days you can subscribe to another Investment ISA in the current tax year.

If you cancel your Investment ISA after the 30 days, you can request your cash-in value and we will organise the lump sum to be paid into your account.

Please note: Under ISA rules you will be treated as though you have subscribed to a Investment ISA and will therefore not be able to pay in to another one in the current tax year. However, you would be allowed to open a Cash ISA with any unused allowance.

To cancel or cash-in your plan please email our Member Services Team on members@shepherdsfriendly.co.uk with your full name and plan number.

Bonus Plan

If you want or need to stop paying premiums, you should contact us as quickly as possible to discuss what options are available to you.

To cancel your plan or ask for your surrender value please email our Member Services Team on members@shepherdsfriendly.co.uk with your full name and plan number. Please read the Bonus Plan Key Information Document for more information.

Please note: If you stop paying premiums during the early years, the value of your Bonus Plan could be less than you have paid in.