Newcastle ISA Plus
1. Definitions
“Account” means the Account you take with the Newcastle on these Terms & Conditions.
“Accountholder” means the person(s) in whose name the Account is held; in the case of joint Accountholders it means either or both of you depending on the circumstances.
“AER” means “annual equivalent rate” and is a notional rate which illustrates the contractual interest rate (excluding any bonus interest payable) as if paid and compounded on an annual basis.
“Business Day” means any day except Saturdays, Sundays and English Bank Holidays.
“Closing Date” means the Closing Date for this offer, being the date on which the Society decides to withdraw the Account.
“Customer Acceptance Form” means the form you complete when applying for an account
“Gross” interest is the contractual rate of interest payable before the deduction of income tax.
“Newcastle ISA Plus” means the Account set out in these Terms & Conditions.
“Initial Investment” means the amount you initially invest in the Account.
“Product Details Table” means the Product Details of the Account as set out at the front of this brochure.
“The Newcastle” means Newcastle Building Society and 'the Society' will also be construed accordingly.
“The Term” of the Account commences on the Start Tracking Date and ends on the Maturity Date.
2. Applications
2.1 To open an Account you must send your Initial Investment and a completed Customer Acceptance Form to the Newcastle. The Initial Investment should be made by cheque. When a payment is made by cheque it will earn interest prior to the Start Tracking Date from the second Business Day (inclusive) after receipt until the Start Tracking Date. Any cheque should, for security reasons, always be made payable to Newcastle Building Society Re: Your Name(s), Account/Application Number (if known).2.2 The Newcastle reserves the right to reject any Customer Acceptance Form at its discretion. If an Application Form is rejected any funds paid into the Account will be returned within 10 Business Days of receipt. During this period interest will be paid at the then current Nova Plus rate.
2.3 The Accounts are not available for businesses, clubs, charities or other organisations and cannot be held in trust.
2.4 The Newcastle will ensure that any person to whom the Newcastle delegates any of its functions or responsibilities will be competent to carry out those functions or responsibilities.
2.5 The maximum investment for one tax year is £3,600. In addition, previous years ISA subscriptions can be transferred to the Account.
3. Joint Accounts
The Account can only be held in single names.4. Interest
Interest will be credited annually on 18 February each year.
5. Withdrawals
Withdrawals can be made penalty free without notice.
At the request of the Accountholder this ISA, including full rights and obligations, may be transferred to another ISA Manager or be withdrawn in full. Where a transfer or withdrawal request has been made, the Newcastle will endeavor to complete the transaction within the time period specified by you and in any event will take no longer than 30 days in total.
6. Account Type
For passbook operated accounts a passbook will be issued to you. This belongs to the Newcastle. You must take care to keep this passbook safe and to prevent it from being lost, stolen or used by anyone else.
Alternatively you can open your Account as an online or telephone account and a unique User ID and/or password will be issued to you. It is your responsibility to ensure that you keep your User ID and password secret and secure.
8. Death of Accountholder
Where an Account is closed following the death of the Accountholder, interest will be payable at the advertised rates less tax.
9. Cancellation
Should you cancel your application before the Account is opened you will receive interest from the date of receipt to cancellation at the prevailing Nova Plus interest rate with tax deducted as appropriate. Cancellation incurs no penalty charges.
10. Rules
The Accounts are Share Accounts and Accountholders are deemed to be members of the Society. As a member of the Society you are subject to the rules of the Society, a copy of which may be obtained on request.
11. Tax
The level and basis of relief from tax are subject to change. The favourable treatment of ISAs may not be maintained. However, the Government has promised that ISAs will be available until at least 2010.
The Newcastle will notify the Accountholder in the event of any failure to satisfy the provisions of the ISA Regulations and where the ISA has/or will become void i.e. no longer exempt from tax.
The ISA investment will be, and must remain in, the beneficial ownership of the investor and must not be used as security for a loan.
12. Maturity
Interest rate is guaranteed to be no less than 0.50% above Bank of England Base Rate on balances over £3,000 until 18 February 2009. Rates on all balances will not to fall below the Bank of England base rate until 18th February 2010.
The interest rate will transfer automatically to our Nova ISA product on 19th February 2010, Nova ISA terms and conditions available upon request.
Agreement to assign windfalls to charity
1. Paragraphs 2 to 6, will apply to me unless I am an exempt customer at the time when the account is opened.2. I agree with the Newcastle that, if the right to any windfall benefits is granted to me after the account is opened, I will assign those windfall benefits to the selected charity unless either of the following applies:
The period between my account being opened and the conversion announcement date is more than 5 years (or, if applicable, the shorter period).
- The period between my Account being opened and the conversion announcement date is more than 5 years (or, if applicable, the shorter period).
- On the conversion announcement date, I am a borrowing member of the Newcastle
4. I authorise that the Newcastle has promised to transfer to the selected charity the benefit of the agreement which I have given under paragraph 2, above; neither the Newcastle nor the selected charity will release me from that agreement; and any power of the Newcastle to change the terms of its contract with me will not apply to any of the terms set out in this section of the application form.
5. I authorise the Newcastle to give the selected charity any information about me or any account that I have with the Newcastle (now or in the future) but only if the selected charity reasonably needs it regarding the agreement I have given under paragraph 2, above.
6. I understand that the Newcastle will require anyone who opens a share account (who is not then an exempt customer) to agree to assign to charity the right to any windfall benefits which that person may become entitled to. The terms of the agreement will be decided by the Newcastle and may be different from the terms in paragraphs 1 to 5, above. This paragraph will no longer apply if the Newcastle publishes a notice in the press of a decision by the Newcastle that it will no longer require new share holding members to enter into such agreements.
These notes apply to paragraphs 1 to 6:
(a). The "account" is the share account that you are applying to open by completing this form.(b). The "conversion announcement date" means the date on which the Newcastle makes a public announcement of a proposal to transfer its business to a successor.
(c). The "current terms" means terms that are the same as, or similar to, the terms set out in paragraphs 2 to 5 opposite.
(d). You are an "exempt customer" when you open the account if:
- You have held shares in the Newcastle (other than permanent interest bearing shares) at all times since 31 March 1999; or you are a borrowing member of the Newcastle; or
- You have already entered into an agreement with the Newcastle binding you to the current terms; or
- you belong to one of the groups of the other people who, in the Newcastle's opinion, do not need to be asked to agree to the current terms. A list of these groups is available from the Newcastle at any time. The Newcastle may alter the number and composition of the groups from time to time, but no alteration will apply retrospectively.
(f). The "selected charity" means the Community Foundation or, if it is at any time no longer a registered charity, any other charity or charities selected by it to receive assignment of windfall benefits.
(g). A "shorter period" is applicable if, when the Newcastle opens your account, you belong to one of the groups of people who, in the Newcastle's opinion, do not need to be asked to agree the usual 5-year period. A list of these groups, stating the period applicable to them, is available from the Newcastle at any time. The Newcastle may alter the number and composition of the groups and the period applicable to them from time to time, but no alteration will apply retrospectively.
(h). The "successor" is any company or other corporate body to which the Newcastle transfers its business under Section 97 of the Building Societies Act 1986 (or under any provision which amends or replaces it).
(i). A "windfall benefit" is a benefit which a person has the right to receive as a share holding member of the Newcastle, under the terms of any future transfer of the Newcastle's business to a successor (i.e. on a conversion or take over), other than:
- The replacement of savings in a share account with the Newcastle with savings in a deposit account with the successor, or
- Any benefit that the Newcastle has decided may be kept by a person who has a number of accounts and was an exempt customer when opening one or more (but not all) of them. A list setting out the conditions that determine whether, and to what extent, such a person may keep a benefit is available from the Newcastle at any time. These conditions may be altered by the Newcastle from time to time, but no alteration will apply retrospectively.
Accessibility
Newcastle Building Society is committed to providing a full range of products and services for all of our customers. With this in mind we are able to provide this brochure in larger print, Braille or audio cassette format.* If you would like more details, or would like to register to receive correspondence in an alternative format please contact the Newcastle on 0845 606 5522.*Each individual case will be considered separately upon request.
Handling customer complaints
Unfortunately, mistakes are occasionally made by Newcastle Building Society. A leaflet entitled ‘Our complaints procedure’ provides full details of our complaints procedure, a copy of which is available from your local branch or on request from our principal office. Complaints information is also available online.Legal Policies
Newcastle Building Society is an active member of the Building Societies Association. Shares and Deposits in the Society are Trustee Investments. The Newcastle Building Society is a participant of the Financial Services Compensation Scheme established under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000. Payments under the Scheme are limited to a maximum payment of £35,000, i.e. 100% of the first £35,000 of an investor's total shares and/or deposits in a society. Most investors are covered, including individuals and small firms. A small number of categories of shares and deposits are not covered (for example deferred shares - permanent interest bearing shares). Although most shares and deposits are denominated in sterling, all other currencies are covered. Further details are available on request from the Newcastle. We subscribe to the UK Banking Code, copies of which are available on request. We may monitor and record telephone calls for training and security purposes.
