How many ISAs can you have?

Can I have more than one ISA?

You can have as many Cash and Stocks and Shares ISAs as you like, as long as you meet the eligibility criteria for each type. 

How many Lifetime ISAs and Junior ISAs can I have?

Unlike Cash ISAs and Stocks and Shares ISAs, there are limits over how many you can have. For example, you can only pay into one Lifetime ISA each year. And a child under 18 can only have one Junior Cash ISA and / or one Junior Stocks and Shares ISA.

Why would I have more than one type of ISA?

Having more than one type of ISA could help you with different goals. For example:

• If you're thinking about buying your first home, and building some savings at the same time, you might have a Lifetime ISA and a Cash ISA.
• If you're planning for long-term goals but also want savings you can access for just-in-case moments, you might have Stocks and Shares ISA and an Easy Access Cash ISA.
• It's important to be aware that there are overall limits on how much you can place inside an ISA each tax year. For example, you can only pay in up to £4,000 inside a Lifetime ISA. And you can't pay more than £20,000 into ISAs overall. If you're under 18, you have an annual allowance of £9,000 that you can pay into a Junior ISA.

Can I transfer money from one ISA to another?

Some ISAs will allow transfers in, and some won’t. It completely depends on the account and the provider. One important thing to note is that an ISA transfer is different from withdrawing from one account and paying in to another. If you withdraw and then pay into a different ISA without using the ISA transfer service, your funds will lose their tax-free status.

If you’re looking to transfer your savings into a Skipton ISA, take a look at our transfers page for more details.

ISA transfer explained

Can I inherit an ISA?

If your spouse or civil partner passes away and they have money inside an ISA, you can inherit their ISA allowance. It’s known as an Additional Permitted Subscription (APS).

The ISA savings / investments themselves are slightly different, as this money will form part of the wider inheritance. This could mean they are inherited by someone else. But whatever happens, the APS will be available to you, on top of your annual ISA allowance.  

Let’s say your spouse or civil partner had £10,000 inside an ISA. You would inherit their £10,000 ISA allowance. This allowance can be used up to three years from the date the person passed away (or 180 days from the completion of the estate administration, if this takes more than three years). You would also have your own, separate annual ISA allowance, currently £20,000.

• Under HMRC rules the APS allowance must be distinguishable from the normal ISA allowance. To do this we place funds making up the APS allowance into our Legacy Cash ISA.
• Once you’ve completed this step, you can transfer your Legacy Cash ISA savings to another ISA, with no penalties.  
• To qualify to receive an inherited ISA allowance, you must have been married to/in a civil partnership with your partner when they passed away and not legally separated (or likely to become legally separated).

You can find out more about inheriting ISA allowances or funds from an ISA on our Additional Permitted Subscriptions page. Our bereavement support page also explains what happens to Skipton savings accounts when someone has passed away.

What happens if I pay into more than one of the same type of ISA in a tax year?

With most ISAs, you can pay into as many of the same type in the same tax year as you like. The only exceptions are Lifetime ISAs and Junior ISAs. You can only pay into one Lifetime ISA each tax year. And you can only ever hold one Junior Cash ISA and/or one Junior Stocks & Shares ISA at a time.

If you think you've paid into more than one Lifetime ISA in a single tax year, contact your ISA provider straight away. You should also get in touch with HMRC to let them know.

More about ISAs