Investments questions and answers

We cannot give you financial advice, but if you have any questions about Virgin Money ISAs, please call us on 03456 102020.* Our lines are open 8am - 9pm Monday to Friday and 9am - 6pm on Saturdays. If you need advice you can search for an independent financial adviser at www.unbiased.co.uk.

*Calls to 03 numbers cost the same as calls to 01 or 02 numbers and they are included in inclusive minutes and discount schemes in the same way. Calls may be monitored and recorded.

Yes, you can put your money into just one or any combination of our funds, and switch between them whenever you like at no charge.

We are required to verify our customers identity and will try and do this electronically wherever possible when opening your account. In some instances we may need to write to you after we've set up your account and ask you to send us proof of identity and address.

Yes, apart from transfers from Lifetime ISAs which we don't accept, whether it's an ISA from a previous tax year or one you're paying into this tax year, you can transfer it to Virgin Money.

If you're interested in transferring a stocks and shares ISA, cash ISA or innovative finance ISA to a Virgin Money Stocks & Shares ISA, visit our ISA transfer page or call us on 03456 102020.*

*Calls to 03 numbers cost the same as calls to 01 or 02 numbers and they are included in inclusive minutes and discount schemes in the same way. Calls may be monitored and recorded.

For stocks and shares ISAs and unit trusts, you can make payments by cheque, debit card or by direct debit. Cheques will need to be sent via post, we can set up a Direct Debit via post or phone and debit card payments can be made via phone or via our online service. ISA (APS) payments must be made via postal cheque.

Stocks & Shares ISAs can only be opened in a sole name. Unit trusts can be opened in joint names.

To open an ISA, you have to be resident in the UK for tax purposes for that tax year. You can open a unit trust without being a UK resident as long as you are not a resident or tax payer in the USA.

To review the past performance of our investment funds over the last five years, visit our Fund Performance page. The current and previous fund prices for all our funds can be found on the Fund Prices page.

There are no cancellation rights with our stocks and shares ISA, so once you’ve made a payment or transferred in any existing ISA(s) into your Virgin Money Stocks & Shares ISA, you cannot cancel it. You can of course decide at any time to transfer the ISA to another registered ISA manager or to withdraw your ISA proceeds.

No, you can stop, start, or change your payments at any time. You can withdraw your money whenever you need to without any penalties. You can also switch some or all of your investment between our different funds any time you like, free of charge.

We will send you a full statement twice a year to let you know how your investments are doing. You can also call us, check the latest valuation or call our freephone automated valuation service on 0800 917 97 91.

You can make lump sum payments by phone or online service with your debit card, or you can post us a cheque. You can also set up a direct debit if you want to make regular payments. More information about top ups.

Once your investment has cleared, you can withdraw your money over the phone or online whenever you need it. Your cheque should normally arrive within a few working days. The only exception to this is if you have a corporate unit trust, or a unit trust held in joint names, where you need to write to us to take your money out.

As you are no longer allowed to make payments into this account, you will need to open a new ISA and make a deposit, either online or over the phone on 03456 102020*.

*Calls to 03 numbers cost the same as calls to 01 or 02 numbers and they are included in inclusive minutes and discount schemes in the same way. Calls may be monitored and recorded.

A cash ISA is just like a basic savings account where you get a return based on an interest rate. No tax is taken from the interest you earn.

A stocks and shares ISA is a tax efficient investment where your money buys bonds or shares in companies on the stock market. The aim of the investment is to grow your money using the potential growth opportunities, but there are no guarantees because the value can go down as well as up. You might not get back the amount you invested and past performance of the investment is not a reliable guide to the future.

Choosing the right ISA for you depends very much on your approach to risk. If you want a low risk account, cash ISAs could be for you. But if you want the chance to earn a higher return, you might want to look at one of our stocks and shares ISAs.

Tax depends on your individual circumstances and the regulations may change in the future.

Flexible ISAs allow you to withdraw money from your ISA and replace withdrawn funds within the same tax year without affecting your current year ISA limit of £20,000.

Some ISAs, including our Stocks and Shares ISA, do not offer this flexibility. You can still withdraw money from your account. However, if you replace it later, this will use up more of your annual ISA allowance. And depending on how much you have already contributed, you might find you aren't able to replace all of it because you would exceed the annual limit.

You can only subscribe to one Cash ISA, one Stocks and Shares ISA, one Innovative ISA and one Lifetime ISA in each tax year, up to the current combined annual subscription limit of £20,000.

Investing in stock market shares is not without its risks. They can rise in value over many years, go into periods of decline, or fall suddenly in value, with no guarantee you'll get back the full amount you invest. The key thing to remember is, the longer you stay invested in the stock market the better you tend to do.

If you only invest in a handful of shares over the short term you'll certainly increase your risk. But by investing over many years and spreading your savings over a wide range of shares, you lessen that risk and actually increase your chances of getting a good return.

History shows that investors shouldn't be too concerned with short-term stock market falls. Those who cash in their investments, instead of taking a longer term view, will lock in their losses. If you can take the longer view then markets can regain their losses. For example, in 1987 the UK market finished the year higher than it started in January, despite falling 32% in the October 87 'crash'.

However, if the market goes into a longer fall (known as a 'bear market') it can sometimes be some years before you start to see a return on your money. As ever, time is the key, and you should only consider investing money you can afford to tuck away for at least five years.

Remember, the value of your investments can go down as well as up and you may get back less than you invest. This is a medium to long-term investment so you should be prepared to invest your money for at least five years. Tax depends on your individual circumstances and the regulations may change in the future.

You can save up to £20,000 each tax year, which can be:

• Held as cash (in a cash ISA)
• Invested in the stock market (in a stocks and shares ISA)
• Lent to other individuals or companies as a loan (in an innovative finance ISA)
• or, a maximum of £4,000 used towards saving for your first home or your retirement with a 25% top up from the Government (a Lifetime ISA)

Or any combination of these.

Remember, tax depends on your individual circumstances and may change in the future.

If you're looking for advice, you can search for an independent financial adviser at www.unbiased.co.uk. 

The annual management charge is automatically deducted from the underlying fund each day, so the unit price used each trading day reflects this charge.

Yes, we offer a unit trust product where you can invest in our funds outside of an ISA.

The Dividend Allowance means that you won’t have to pay tax on the first £2,000 of your dividend income, no matter what non-dividend income you have. The allowance is available to anyone who has dividend income. You’ll pay tax on any dividends you receive over the dividend allowance at the following rates:

• 7.5% on dividend income within the basic rate band
• 32.5% on dividend income within the higher rate band
• 38.1% on dividend income within the additional rate band

Dividends received on shares held in an Individual Savings Account (ISA), will continue to be exempt from tax.

The Virgin Bond and Gilt Fund pays interest, not dividends, and this is taxed differently.

Savings interest from your Cash ISA is exempt. Interest from the Virgin Bond & Gilt Fund earned in your Virgin Stocks and Shares ISA is also exempt.

The Virgin Bond & Gilt Fund is the only one of our funds that pays interest, the others pay dividends.

Individuals have an annual Personal Savings Allowance. Basic rate taxpayers do not pay tax on the first £1,000 of interest earned on their savings. This falls to £500 for higher rate taxpayers and to £0 for additional rate taxpayers.

Although all interest paid on an ISA account is tax free, for savings held outside an ISA, interest will only be tax free up to the Personal Savings Allowance. If you receive more interest than the allowance, you will pay tax on the excess interest.

Your investments will be covered by the FSCS for up to £85,000 per person. Information about the scheme can be found in the product terms and conditions and on the FSCS website www.fscs.org.uk.  

This is in addition to the £85,000 afforded to cash savings customers.

As of 3 December 2014, if you are married or in a civil partnership and your spouse or civil partner dies, you are entitled to an extra ISA allowance equal to the value of the ISA(s) held by your partner, even if you don’t inherit the money or assets in the ISA. This ISA allowance is called the Additional Permitted Subscription (APS) allowance and is in addition to your annual ISA allowance.

Virgin Money accepts ISA APS allowances, as long as you live in the UK and fulfil the eligibility criteria. For more information about the Additional Permitted Subscription allowance please read the Obtaining additional ISA allowances following the death of your spouse or civil partnerPDF opens in a new window leaflet.

If you would like to find out more please visit our APS allowance page.