Nsandi.com - is this genuine?

[User5512]

I’m looking to invest a large sum of money. I understand it’s govt backed etc, is this website genuine??
pls can anyone confirm?

www. Nsandi.com

Yes I do wonder how HMRC are going to cope with the extra work load if more people are getting pulled over the allowance because of the higher rates. Tax used to be taken directly off the interest and the onus was on the customer to claim it back if they were under the threshold. For those who didn’t have much savings it wasn’t worth the hassle usually to claim back, say, 8 quid a year. I know I never bothered. For those that did have large amount of savings it was worth their while I guess.

did they change the system because it was considered unethical for the government to keep all those 8 quids that they knew people wouldn’t bother claiming for? The change has worked well for years because of low interest rates but I fail to see how HMRC have enough staff to deal with an increase in tax calculations on personal savings. More people will be drawn into being in thr bracket of not earning enough interest to have to do a tax return but earning enough over the PSA that the tax they owe has to be repaid through their tax code. That could be a LOT of work. Unless they increase the PSA…….

HMRC usually go off the amount you earned in interest the year before. It can be repaid through adjusting your tax code unless you’re lucky enough to earn more than 10k a year in savings interest. That is too much to claim back via your tax code and then you’ll have to do a tax return. At an interest rate of 6% you’d need around 170k of savings to reach the point of needing to do a tax return (unless it was in ISAs of close)

I’d say there will be a lot more first timers submitting tax returns in the next couple of years. Hope HMRC is ready.

I pay tax through my pension so looks like I don’t have to fill in a tax form thank goodness. I am already over the tax limit as my retirement income mainly comes from investments rather than pensions.

Out of interest, what are people’s thoughts on premium bonds? I hadn’t really thought about it as an option for our funds but looking at it the rate of return on the size of deposit is about the same as the 6.2% interest rate once 40% tax has been taken off.

I know the returns on PBs are not guaranteed but looking at MSE the average returns are in the right ballpark and of course are tax free.

We found we were not making an average of 4% on our premium bonds and moved dh’s holding to a guaranteed 6% bond. I still have my full holding.

@CurlyhairedAssassin
as HMRC struggle now to answer the phone I doubt they are prepared for more tax returns. 😆

It's only for a year though. Still got the problem of what to do after that and all the tax on the interest in a lump sum.
Worth noting it accepts money from 16-18 y olds unlike anywhere else

@calyxx
the monthly income bond pays 6.03% which I prefer for tax planning.
there were also a banks offering around 6% but fixed for longer - RCI, Realise Bank, Hodge. May have dropped now, but worth a look.

@ShanghaiDiva what do you do with your monthly interest from your income bonds?

I know, every year my tax code comes through later and later. The way they’re going in a year or two they’ll be working at least 18 months behind for their calculations.

What is the minimum notice period to withdraw money?

You cannot access the money until the bond matures.

I always open an account and transfer a test amount o f £1 initially.

I’ve got nearly the full amount. Didn’t receive anything this month or last and only 50 quid the month before that. So I’m down really, on what it could be doing elsewhere. I think that’s always been the case. They don’t seem much better than scratch cards really. You may get small amounts but it’s the possibility of the big win that is the lure. Some people like the excitement of checking each month. And if you need to consider somewhere safe and tax free then that’s an advantage (which is why I’ve kept mine)

But personally if I didn’t have to consider tax and just had to get the most returns, I wouldn’t bother with premium bonds. The rate is better than it used to be though.

live off it as dh and I are retired early 50s. Anything we don’t need or want to keep as a buffer goes into instant access savings - Investec has a pretty good instant rate and I think DH is with Marcus. Atom has just increased its instant rate but not the best on the market.

I know the returns on PBs are not guaranteed but looking at MSE the average returns are in the right ballpark and of course are tax free.

I had the max holding for two years and got nothing like average returns. Just took it all out except for a token amount 'just in case'. I'd be daft not to get 6 per cent interest instead - £3,000!

You can’t withdraw at all during the term. Eg one year bond equals no withdrawals at all during that year. 2 year bond means none till the end of 2 years etc. As you come to the end of the term they will contact you to offer you choices of what to do with the money. Usually it’s a choice to either renew the bond (in reality it’s a completely new product with new bond number and the interest rate will usually have changed by then, either up or down, depends how the Bank of England base rate Is doing). Or if you aren’t happy with the rate offered you can withdraw all your money, interest included, and do what you want with it.

Sometimes an NS&I customer who is coming to the end of their bond term is offered a product that is only open to current bond holders. that happened to me once so I grabbed it. When that renewed the rates weren’t so favourable so I withdrew everything and put it somewhere that would give me a better rate.

Interesting, thanks. I’m hoping to retire early once kids have finished at uni. I’ll be mid 50s. Hoping the interest rates won’t plummet again as they will affect whether I can do that. I have an instant saver with Tandem which I’ve just opened. Pretty good rate too. It’s weird seeing those sorts of rates after so long of, like, nothing!

You can download a form from their website, or you can telephone NSandI and withdraw your Premium Bonds, they will be paid into your nominated bank account. Then you apply for the GGBond.
I've just done exactly this.

They know how much interest you earn because banks, building societies, NS&I etc, have to tell HMRC what interest you earn. You should inform HMRC if you are earning enough interest to attract tax (if you are below the threshold you don't need to). If they do find out you haven't been paying tax due (possibly from random checks) you can be in trouble, fined, and have to pay all the tax due going back 7 years I think.

@CurlyhairedAssassin
yes, we had a couple of spectacularly lean years with dismal rates.

Well after a bit of faffing we ended up doing a number of smaller debit card payments to purchase the bonds we wanted. Turns out the card issue is with Mastercard who have a maximum amount you can pay by debit card per day.

For those that don't want to tie funds up for a year (or for a mix) Santander have released a 5.2% Easy Saver.

Good spot! I gave up on Santander last year when I opened a chase account as the current account benefits/savings interest rate was so much better, I now only use my Santander account for my wages and direct debits and have £500 in my savings in there (still something stupid like 1.05%) but I'll take a look at this as I can't lock my money away in the NS&I bonds.

I guess the government's plan to force high street banks into raising rates is working!

Yes maybe, have to see what others do...
I'd only checked Santander rates at the weekend and it wasn't there, then ds1 messaged me about it yesterday.