Investments questions and answers

We’re always looking for better ways to invest your money or improve the services we offer.

In 2023, we’re making investing more straightforward and rewarding than ever. Here’s what we’ve done so far:

• In January we lowered the charge for four of our funds.
• In February we updated the policy on some of our funds to increase potential returns - and be better for people and the planet.
• In March we launched our new investment service to new customers.

Later this year, we’ll automatically move your account to the new investment service, and we’ll write to you with details nearer the time. Take a sneak peek at the exciting improvements.

Fancy winning one MILLION Virgin Points to spend on incredible rewards with Virgin Red? Or a runner-up prize of 400,000 Virgin Points? The good news is if you have at least £1,000 invested in your Stocks & Shares ISA, Investment Account or Pension by 30 November 2023, and have made a payment in the past 12 months, you'll automatically be entered into the next month's prize draws, running from September to December.

If you don’t already have £1,000 invested, top up your account to enter. When you have a balance of at least £1,000, you’ll be entered into the remaining draws. Your last chance to enter is 30 November 2023. Terms apply.

If you added £5,000 between 1 February - 30 April 2023, and kept it there, you should qualify to receive 8,000 Virgin points.

We’ll send you an email with your Virgin Points promo code by 31 May (or 30 August if you’re transferring an ISA).

Find out more

If you added £5,000 between 1 May and 30 June 2023, and kept it there, you should qualify to receive 8,000 Virgin points.

We’ll send you an email with your Virgin Points promo code by 30 July (or 30 October if you’re transferring an ISA).

Find out more

To set up a Direct Debit for your ISA - just print off the relevant form below and post them to us or give us a call. Once your Direct Debit is up and running you can add in one-off payments whenever you want online. You can also change your monthly payments at any time.

ISA top up form (if you’ve paid in recently)

ISA application form (if you haven’t made a payment since 6 April 2022)

Post the completed form to us Freepost Virgin Money, PO Box 9522, Chelmsford, CM99 2AB. There’s no need to put a stamp on the envelope.

To set up a Direct Debit for an existing Unit Trust, give us a call on 03456 10 20 30.*

If you use Online Service, sign in where you can:

• Increase or decrease your monthly payments - select ‘Regular payments’ and pick ‘Amend Direct Debit’.
• Make a one-off Direct Debit payment – select the ‘Top up’ link.

Not registered for Online Service? It’s easy to register.

If you'd prefer to speak to someone about amending your Direct Debit, just call us on 03456 10 20 30.*

If you have a Stocks and Shares ISA, you can also print off the form below and post it to us at Freepost Virgin Money, PO Box 9522, Chelmsford, CM99 2AB. There’s no need to put a stamp on the envelope.

Top up form

Call us on 03456 10 20 30* to make a one-off payment by debit card.

Yes, you can make a one-off payment by cheque.

If you have a Stocks and Shares ISA, print off the form below and post it to us at Freepost Virgin Money, PO Box 9522, Chelmsford, CM99 2AB. There’s no need to put a stamp on the envelope.

ISA top up form (if you’ve paid in recently).

ISA application form (if you haven’t made a payment since 6 April 2022).

Remember You can pay in a maximum of £20,000 across your ISAs in the current tax year. Any ISAs you transfer to us from previous tax years aren’t included in this limit.

To pay a cheque into a Unit Trust account via post send it to Freepost Virgin Money, PO Box 9522, Chelmsford, CM99 2AB. There’s no need to put a stamp on the envelope. Please remember to let us know your name, account number and postcode. Also, you’ll need to tell us the name of the fund(s) you want to invest in and that you’ve seen the fund’s Key Investor Information.

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.

Here's how:

Online: If you have a Direct Debit set up, sign in to Online Service and select the top up link to make an additional one-off Direct Debit payment.

By phone: To set up a Direct Debit or top up using a debit card, please call 03456 10 20 30.

By post: Cheques should be sent via post to Freepost Virgin Money, PO Box 9522, Chelmsford, CM99 2AB. Please remember to let us know your name, account number and postcode. Also, you’ll need to tell us the name of the fund(s) you want to invest in and that you’ve seen the fund’s Key Investor Information at virginmoney.com/KII.

You won’t pay any additional fees for topping up your investment.

In the future, with our new investment service, you’ll be able to manage payments on the go, have an overview of your account and keep all your documents online. We’ll write to you with more details nearer the time. If you want a sneak peek, just head over to see what our brighter future looks like.

Remember, you may get back less than you invest.

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 and Shares ISA, visit our ISA transfer page or call us on 03456 10 20 20.*

Once your payment 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.

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.

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 an Investment Account 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 £1,000 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:

• 8.75% on dividend income within the basic rate band
• 33.75% on dividend income within the higher rate band
• 39.35% 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 Money Bond Fund pays interest, not dividends, and this is taxed differently.

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

The Virgin Bond 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.

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.