Individual Savings Accounts (ISAs)

What if I want to take my money out of an ISA?

You can take your money out at any time, without losing any tax benefits you have already built up. However, some ISAs may run for a fixed period or require notice of withdrawal and you may lose some interest or a bonus if you withdraw early. In some cases, there may also be a penalty if you surrender an ISA life insurance policy early.

With stocks and shares or life insurance, you may not get back all the money you put in, particularly if you withdraw during the early years of an investment.

If you take money out, any that you put back later will count against the ISA annual subscription limit in the year that you re-invest your money.

Example

Denise opens a Mini cash ISA with £2,500. A few weeks later she withdraws £2,000. Later in the same year, Denise decides to replace the money by putting new funds into the account. However, she can only replace £500. This is because the annual subscription limit for a Mini cash ISA account is £3,000 in each tax year, and Denise already put in £2,500 when she first opened the account.