Watch your money grow (Kent Reliance Building Society Mini Cash ISA)

Member Name: annaroos1

Product:	Kent Reliance Building Society Mini Cash ISA
Date:	25/11/06 (1796 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: A safe and tax free way of saving

Disadvantages: It is all offline

Every year each individual in the UK has a certain amount of money which they are entitled to put into an ISA. An ISA is essentially a tax-free wrapper; that is any income or capital gains will not have to be explained to Mr Brown. Within the tax year a maximum of £7000 may be saved by an individual in a mixture of cash, stocks and shares. The smaller saver will probably look into the cash alternative first and foremost where you can save a maximum of £3000 each tax year. If you want more information on the different forms of ISA in order to see which combination may be suitable for you there are many websites around that explain them quite clearly and concisely. Simply do a google search and you should find many helpful pages.

To open an ISA you must be over 18 years of age, although from the age of 16 you are able to open a Mini cash ISA or just the cash component of a Maxi ISA. As the main benefit of an ISA is its tax exemption you must be a UK resident. ISAs can never be held as joint accounts or even on behalf of somebody else. Something to bear in mind too is the fact that even though you are entitled to withdraw your money during the tax year, this will still count towards your entitlement. That is, if you have saved £3000 in the year and withdraw £100 you will then NOT be able to put that £100 back into your ISA.

I decided to open an ISA as I thought it was about time for me to try to save a little bit of money rather than just spending it all as soon as I got it. As a regular visitor to the moneysavingsexpert website I decided to see what he recommended. Kent Reliance Building Society’s (let me call it KRBS from now on, that’s just way too long!) Mini Cash ISA was one of the ISAs that he recommended. The other two required a minimum opening deposit of £1000 and as I said – I haven’t exactly been saving money so I couldn’t afford this. However KRBS offered a Direct Variable Rate Mini Cash ISA at 4.96 AER with a minimum opening deposit of just £1. In case you’re not too sure about what AER means it is the annual equivalent rate. That is what the interest rate would be if it was paid and added each year - making it easier to compare financial products. Interest is added annually on the 5th of April each year and is, as with all ISAs free of any income of capital gains tax.

I printed off a form from their website (http://www.krbs.co.uk/directisa.aspx) and sent it straight off to them together with a cheque made out in my own name. Within a week they sent me a letter to ask for proof of name and proof of address. This I think have to do with the fact that I’m not English and have only lived at my current address for about 4 years. As I couldn’t provide any of the documents required to prove my name I sent them an email to ask whether my Swedish driver’s license would be acceptable. The email I got back asked me to send a copy of my passport instead but as it was stuck at the embassy at that point and I wanted to get my account up and going I emailed them back and told them that I only had my driver’s license available. The day after they got back to me and told me this would be acceptable. In all it only took about a week to get it all up and running and I think that is quite acceptable.

The account is not online (unfortunately, I would have preferred that). To deposit money you can either set up a standing order or simply send a cheque made out in your own name and quote your account number on the back. So far I have opted for sending cheques as I don’t feel as bound by it then. There is a freepost address to send the cheques to, unfortunately it took me a couple of times to realise this as it is not exactly advertised in bold letters so I ended up having to pay for the stamps! Oh well, we live and learn.

You can withdraw money at any time without any notice or penalty but you will need to use the withdrawal slip that is sent out to you when you open the account (you can also download them from the website). The money may then be paid to you via cheque, or if you provide your bank details, straight into your bank account. Bear in mind this process is not immediate so you may have to wait 3-4 days before you have your money safely in your bank account.

My experience with this ISA has only been good so far. I have not withdrawn any money yet, but sent several cheques. In general it takes about 5 working days for the cheques to clear. You will get a receipt sent out with each deposit you make, provided it’s not a standing order. Statements are sent quarterly in January, April, July and October. The annual statement in April will also show you the amount of interest earned during the tax year.


Since I opened my ISA the interest rate has gone up from 4.96% to 5.21%, and it seems likely that this will go up again depending on whether the Bank of England raise the base rate again. I have received plenty of correspondence with regards to my account but not yet any sort of junk trying to convince me to take out loans or insurances with KRBS something I truly appreciate; I get enough as it is. Although it is possible to contact them via the phone I have handled any queries I have had with them online and this has proved very efficient.

I would certainly recommend this ISA for anybody who wants to start saving but don’t have the money many other ISA providers require. The interest rate is one of the highest in the market and so far they have proved very efficient and helpful.

Summary: A reliable ISA giving you a high interest rate