Frequently asked questions:
Children's Savings

Junior ISA

Our Junior ISA is only available to parents or guardians of the child

Young Saver Plan

Available to parents or guardians, extended family and friends. Parental consent required at application

University Savings Plan or Junior Money Maker

Available to parents or guardians, extended family and friends. Parental consent required at application

If your child already has a Child Trust Fund you can switch this to our Junior ISA by contacting our Customer Services team, however you cannot open a new Junior ISA for a child who still has a CTF in place.

The University Savings Plan is no longer open to new applications. You can open a new Young Saver Plan or Junior Money Maker regardless of any other savings plans your child has.

Your child can only have one stocks and shares Junior ISA, but we do offer additional plans for children that provide the further tax-efficient saving opportunities. These include our Young Saver Plan and Junior Money Maker.

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.

There will be no tax applicable to the final pay out of any money invested in any of our children’s savings plans. The growth of the plan will also be tax-efficient.

We’ll accept contributions from anyone who wishes, up to the annual allowance. The plan must be opened by a parent or guardian, though.

Each of our plans has an annual maximum limit.

Junior ISA

The Junior ISA allowance is set by HM Government and usually rises each tax year in line with inflation, and currently stands at £9,000 (correct as of tax year 2020/2021)

Young Saver Plan

This has a set annual maximum of £1,200

University Savings Plan or Junior Money Maker

This has a set annual maximum of £2,400

Junior ISA

The Junior ISA allows flexible saving, where you can save in one-off payments, monthly Direct Debits, or a mixture of both.

Young Saver Plan

The Young Saver Plan requires monthly Direct Debits which cannot be stopped until the plan matures. Additional payments are not permitted.

University Savings Plan or Junior Money Maker

The University Savings Plan or Junior Money Maker requires monthly Direct Debits which cannot be stopped until the plan matures. Additional payments are not permitted.

Within all three plans we invest your child’s money in our With-Profits Fund, a medium to low risk fund invested primarily in stocks and shares with the aim of achieving higher growth over the long-term. You can find out more about how we invest here:

Junior ISA

Young Saver Plan

University Savings Plan

Junior Money Maker

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:

Junior ISA

Young Saver Plan

University Savings Plan

Junior Money Maker

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.

If you open a plan for a child and they later decide not to pursue higher education, they will of course still receive the full tax-free lump sum when they reach age 18, or after 10 years, whichever is later. They can then use this as they wish for a housing deposit, a first car or help them with the first step of their career.

Our Young Saver Plan, University Savings Plan and Junior Money Maker include sickness benefit. The child is eligible for sickness benefit after 4 weeks of continuous sickness from either school or college, once the plan has been in force for 6 months. Sickness is defined as being unable to attend education due to illness or injury.

Our Young Saver Plan, University Savings Plan and Junior Money Maker include sickness benefit. There is no limit to the number of times you can claim. The amount of sickness benefit depends on the premium payable and the duration of the sickness. The full benefit will be paid for up to the first 26 weeks of any absence; after 26 weeks the benefit will be reduced by 50%.

You can choose whether to give your child the full maturity amount as soon as they reach 18 or pay them a set amount annually for three years until they reach age 21. In the event of a gap year they can either receive the money before they go to university, or once they start.

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.

There are two ways you can find out what your up to date value is:

1) You can call our Customer Services team on SF_PHONE_NUMBER and they will be happy to answer any questions you may have about your plan

2) In April of each year you will receive an Annual Bonus Statement, which outlines the activity on your plan and indicates the total amount that has been saved to date.

Currently we’re unable to offer online account management, but it’s something we’ll be introducing soon.

All three of our children’s plans allow you to change how much you pay in as and when you wish, provided you stay within the maximum limits. As well as allowing you to start, stop, raise and lower your premiums, our Junior ISA also allows you to add lump sums when you wish to. If you want to change your payments you can send an online request to us:

Junior ISA

Young Saver Plan

Alternatively, you can call our Customer Services department on SF_PHONE_NUMBER.

You can add one-off payments to your child’s account when you like. You can do this by sending an online request, or by contacting our Customer Services department on SF_PHONE_NUMBER.

As long as your plan is up to date, we will normally pay the money that you have saved at least two weeks before the plan end date. For the University Savings Plan and Junior Money Maker, you can opt for us to pay the money to the child in stages between the ages of 18 and 21, to help spread the costs throughout their higher education.

We’ll contact you to discuss payment options prior to the maturity of the plan.

Money invested with Shepherds Friendly is paid to the child for whom you have been saving. Money can be transferred by BACS directly into a bank account or can be sent to the child as a cheque.

If they have a Junior ISA then you can request for the money to be transferred into our adult Investment ISA. There is no charge for this, and they will then be able to set up payments into the account to suit them. For our Young Saver Plan, University Savings Plan and Junior Money Maker, the account will have to be closed, the money paid to your child, and then returned to us in order to open an ISA.

No. The money can only be paid out to the child. However we can send a cheque, which will be made payable to the child for whom you have been saving. We will however need some notice of this is what you would prefer.

All the money that is invested into our children’s savings plans will be held until the child who you are saving for turns a minimum of 18 years old. There are some exceptional circumstances and these can all be found in the Terms & Conditions included with the plan document.

For the Young Saver Plan, you’re able to take up to 25% of the value of the plan when the child turns 11, in order to help with the costs of sending them to school. Please contact Customer Services on SF_PHONE_NUMBER for more information.

It’s quite straightforward. All you need to do is call our Customer Services team on SF_PHONE_NUMBER or email members@shepherds.co.uk and we’ll do the rest.

For the Junior ISA there is no regular payment required, so you can choose to reduce or cancel your monthly payment. If you are unable to maintain minimum payments into a Young Saver Plan, University Savings Plan or Junior Money Maker then please contact Customer Services on SF_PHONE_NUMBER.

We accept changes of home address over the phone from the plan holder, or the registered contact of a Child Trust Fund or Junior ISA. With regards to the Young Saver Plan or Junior Money Maker (old and new), we will accept changes of address from the parent/guardian of the child or anyone who is named on the plan. With a child’s plan we will need to confirm which family members have moved to the new home. Call our customer services team on (SF_PHONE_NUMBER and they will be happy to assist you with this.

Junior ISA, Junior Money Maker, Young Saver Plan

There are charges which are deducted from your investment to cover our expenses, and the cost of administering and managing the investment. Our charges currently stand at 2.5% as an annual management fee, and this is deducted prior to the bonus being announced. For example, if the total annual investment growth stood at 5.5%, the return your child would receive would be 3% after the charge has been deducted.

Young Saver Plan

We will reduce the amount the child gets back from the plan if you stop paying the premiums before the end date of the plan and if the plan was cashed in early.

Key Information Documents:

Junior ISA (Single)
Junior ISA (Regular)
Junior Money Maker
Young Saver Plan

Junior ISA

You have 30 days from the date your open your account in which to cancel the Junior ISA and your money will be returned. If you cancel within the 30 days you will be treated as though you had not used the child’s Junior ISA allowance and would be able to subscribe to another Junior ISA in the current tax year.

After the 30 days, the Plan becomes a valid Stocks and Shares Junior ISA and cannot be cancelled. If payments are stopped, the Junior ISA would be left dormant until the child reaches the age of 18 or it is transferred to another Provider. The amount subscribed is a gift to the child and cannot be repaid if you change your mind after 30 days.

To cancel within 30 days of opening your plan please email our Member Services Team on members@shepherdsfriendly.co.uk with your full name and plan number.

Junior Money Maker

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

After three successive missed premiums no sickness benefit can be claimed and we will no longer accept payments into the plan.

Any money invested is done so on behalf of the child therefore if the plan is surrendered the proceeds will be made payable to the child.

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 Junior Money Maker Key Information Document for more information.

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

Young Saver 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.

After three successive missed premiums no sickness benefit can be claimed and we will no longer accept payments into the plan.

Any money invested is done so on behalf of the child therefore if the plan is surrendered the proceeds will be made payable to the child.

You are able to withdraw up to 25% of the value of the fund when the child reaches age 11 to help with the costs of sending them to school, but any other money will remain invested until the plan matures.

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 Young Saver Plan Key Information Document for more information.

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