These conditions and the latest published Interactive Investor Share Dealing website explain the relationship between you and us. The conditions are split into sections to make them easier to read and they apply to you regardless of which service you have chosen. There are supplementary conditions for ISAs. These should be read with the rest of the conditions.
You should read carefully these conditions, the Order Handling Policy, Conflicts of Interest Policy and the information contained on the Website (which, taken together from the full terms and conditions of our service) to understand how they work. They also set out your and our rights and duties. By accepting these terms and conditions you acknowledge the creation of a contractual relationship which has legal consequences.
Please note that the Interactive Investor Share Dealing Service is operated by Halifax Share Dealing Limited under the Interactive Investor brand. Interactive Investor Trading Limited has entered into arrangements with Halifax Share Dealing Limited to specify in detail the nature and standard of services to be provided to you. It will provide the interface between you and Halifax Share Dealing Limited via its website (www.iii.co.uk). Halifax Share Dealing Limited will provide the clearing, settlement, custody and brokerage services to you.
In these conditions, the following words and phrases have the special meanings given below:
3.1 You can use the Interactive Investor Share Dealing Service to buy, sell or subscribe for certain types of investments and it consists of three products:
3.2 Each of these products can hold both investments and/or cash and where relevant we will maintain separate records of these for you. Your investments will be pooled with those of other clients and held electronically in our nominee. Our nominee has legal title to the investments and you retain the beneficial entitlement at all times. We maintain a separate client bank account for our products with an approved bank that contains the money we hold that belongs to our clients. In respect of the holding of both cash and investments, our arrangements fully comply with the requirements of the FSA and HM Revenue & Customs rules and regulations.
3.3 We cannot give you any investment, taxation or other advice in connection with your account. If you need advice, you should consult an appropriate professional financial adviser.
3.4 When you apply to become a client, we will allocate to you a personal reference number (PRN), a personal identification number (PIN) and give your account an Account Code. We will not accept any instructions or subscriptions from you unless you satisfy our security verification procedures. We will also send you details of these procedures. When we accept you as a client we will send you a welcome letter or e-mail.
3.5 You must be 18 years of age or over and be resident in the UK, Jersey, Guernsey or the Isle of Man or if not resident, is performing duties as a crown employee serving overseas and paid out of the public revenue of the United Kingdom (typically a serving member of the armed forces, or a diplomat) or is married to, or in a civil partnership with, such a person. You must inform us if you cease to be resident in the UK, Jersey, Guernsey or the Isle of Man. For an ISA you must be resident and ordinarily resident in the UK, not including the Isle of Man or the Channel Islands.
3.6 We will not knowingly accept instructions from a corporate body or investment club, except to the extent that is necessary to enable you to close or transfer your account.
3.7 To activate your account a minimum initial subscription may be required. We will advise if this is the case when you register. This will be debited from your nominated bank account after your account has been fully activated by us. If you do not fund your account with either cash or stock within six months of registering we may close your account. When we authorise your debit card payment we will take £1 from your account, this will be refunded as soon as your debit card has been authorised.
3.8 You must provide details of a nominated bank account in your name or which you hold jointly with someone else that we will electronically credit (send money to you) or electronically debit (take money due to us from you) in line with these terms and conditions. You are responsible for making sure that any payments that you make will not affect any benefits available under your nominated bank account. If the nominated bank account is a joint account, you must make sure that you have the permission of the other account holders before you nominate that account. All payments to or from your nominated bank account will be in pounds sterling. You must make sure your nominated bank account continues to be able to make and receive payments. If it is not, you must provide details of a replacement nominated bank account. If you have more than one account with us, we will use the same nominated bank account for each.
3.9 Prior to accepting you as a client we may require you to complete certain documents and provide evidence of your identity in line with the law to prevent money laundering. If you do not provide the appropriate documents or we are not satisfied with them, we may:
As a result, the price at which we then deal for you could be higher or lower than the price at the time we receive your application or instructions.
3.10 Buying investments can involve risk. The value of your investments and the income from them can go down as well as up. You may not get back the full amount you have invested.
3.11 There is an extra risk of losing money when shares are bought in some smaller companies including penny shares. There may be a big difference between the buying price and the selling price of these shares. If they have to be sold immediately, you may get back much less than you have paid for them. The price may change quickly and it may go down as well as up.
3.12 Certain investments may not be readily realisable. You may have difficulty selling these investments at a reasonable price and, in some circumstances; it may be difficult to sell them at any price. You should not invest in these investments unless you have carefully thought about whether you can afford them and whether they are right for you.
3.13 In certain overseas jurisdictions there may be different settlement, legal and regulatory requirements to those applying in the UK and also different practices for the separate identification of clients' investments.
3.14 Foreign markets will involve different risks from UK markets and in some cases the risks will be greater. On request, we will provide you with an explanation of the relevant risks and protections, which will operate in any foreign markets, including the extent to which we will accept liability for any default of a foreign broker whom we use to process deals. The potential for profit or loss from transactions on foreign markets or in foreign denominated contracts will be affected by fluctuations in foreign exchange rates.
4.1 The proceeds from the sale of investments will be paid into your IICMA (unless you have given us a "Sell to Withdraw" instruction - see condition 6.10) as will any income arising from your investments.
4.2 When you instruct us to buy or subscribe for investments for you, your IICMA needs to contain sufficient cleared funds to meet the full costs of the purchase or subscription. If cleared funds are insufficient at the point of execution to cover the whole amount of a purchase or subscription, we will either:
You can fund your account in a number of ways:
5.1 Unless we agree otherwise, we will accept telephone and online dealing instructions and provide nominee and safe custody facilities as follows:
5.2 You can buy, sell or subscribe for investments during the dealing period. You must tell us the exact name, number or value of investments you want us to buy, sell or subscribe for.
5.3 When you ask us to trade investments we will carry out the trade in the currency of that Market. Where necessary and in order to effect settlement with you in accordance with clause 6.1, this currency will be converted to pounds sterling based on the exchange rate from time to time determined by us at the time of execution. Such rates will reflect the prevailing currency market at the time of conversion. We will give you an indicative exchange rate at the time of dealing although you should be aware that the actual exchange rate applied to your trade may change from the indicative rate provided.
5.4 If we accept instructions inside the dealing period, they will be carried out as soon as reasonably practicable. If we accept them outside the dealing period, we will carry them out as soon as reasonably practicable after the start of the next dealing period. Orders for Unit Trusts and OEICs will be traded at the next available Assured Valuation Point (AVP) if submitted 45 minutes prior to the AVP. Orders submitted after this time will be traded at the subsequent AVP.
5.5 We will carry out your instructions in accordance with our Order Handling Policy (OHP) and Conflicts of Interest Policy (COIP). Where there is a conflict between our OHP and COIP and these terms and conditions, the latter will take precedence.
5.6 We may buy, sell or subscribe for investments for you and other clients as part of the same deal. When we do this, we must reasonably believe that the aggregation of orders is unlikely to work to your disadvantage. However, it could result in a slightly less favourable price than if we had bought or sold your investments separately.
5.7 We will carry out each instruction to deal in more than one type of investment or each instruction to deal at different times in the same type of investment as separate instructions. Charges will apply separately to each deal.
5.8 (a) Other than where 5.8 (b) applies, when you instruct us to buy, sell or subscribe for investments, you cannot change your mind afterwards. Your instructions will not bind us until we have accepted them. We will confirm that your order has been accepted by giving you an order or bargain reference. See also condition 11.10.
(b) TradePlan instructions submitted can be cancelled or amended ONLY when they have a status of pending otherwise they are subject to the terms as defined in 5.8(a).
5.9 On occasions the demand for the service and market conditions may fluctuate. Consequently once we have accepted your instructions to buy, sell or subscribe for investments we cannot accept any responsibility for any actual or potential financial loss or expense you incur if for any reason (other than our negligence) there is a delay or change in market conditions before execution of your order is complete.
5.10 When we have accepted your instructions to buy, sell or subscribe for investments we may, at our discretion, contact you to confirm your instructions. We will do this if we reasonably believe that it is in your interests to do so. We will not be liable to you if we do not contact you.
5.11 If, after an order is placed on your behalf on a Market or with a Fund Manager and we are asked by them to cancel any dealings in the relevant stock, we will not be liable for any loss that you incur. In particular, we reserve the right to cancel any duplicate or repeated instruction you give to us where the circumstances indicate that the deal has been split into smaller orders to take advantage of any market limitations or restrictions.
5.12 The following conditions 5.13 to 5.27 explain how TradePlan works. The following are defined words in bold type have special meaning in relation to TradePlan:
5.13 All orders will be treated as individual orders unless they are inter-related orders under TradePlan. An inter-related order pair is where one side of the TradePlan is contingent on the other, and therefore may be cancelled if the other executes.
5.14 If you have an IICMA or ISA you are able to leave a TradePlan order that will expire at the close of business on any working day in the future, except for limit orders that will run for a maximum of 90 calendar days. The order will run until either expiry, execution, amendment or cancellation by you. We may decide to extend the maximum period beyond 90 calendar days, should this be the case, we will publish details on our website.
5.15 A limit order or stop loss order may be partially executed where the limit price or stop loss price is met. You will not have any right to cancel the part of the order which has been partially filled.
5.16 A TradePlan may be amended or cancelled by you, as long as the order has not been carried out or is not in the process of being executed and we accept the cancellation or amendment.
5.17 It is your responsibility to verify whether an order has been carried out and, if it has not, whether you require a new instruction to be placed.
5.18 When we accept your order, we will endeavour to follow your instructions and will generally carry out orders by reference to time of receipt. We do not guarantee that TradePlan orders will be executed even if a price is met by market conditions.
5.19 TradePlan orders are designed to execute when the price of an investment meets, falls below or rises above a specified price. In the period between the price being achieved and the execution of the order, the price of the investment may have moved. This may mean that the order is dealt at a slightly different price to the TradePlan price. In certain market conditions, the price difference could be significant. In addition, specific events may cause the price of an investment to move to an unusually high or low price, which may cause your order to execute at those prices. Any order executed in these circumstances will be valid and we will not be liable for any resulting loss.
5.20 An order to "Sell All" will result in all investments owned in a security in that account being sold. This type of order will take into account any pending order for the same investment regardless of order type and take into account any withdrawals or deposits since the original order was placed.
5.21 TradePlan orders can be placed on all UK listed CREST eligible investments although we can change the range of investments which are available.
5.22 You must have enough money in your IICMA to cover any charge applicable to a TradePlan order when you place it.
5.23 If your order is outside the normal market size of that investment, we may not deal it. We may try to contact you about your order.
5.24 If you place a TradePlan order and the stock on your account is subsequently suspended we reserve the right to cancel or amend that order.
5.25 If you place a TradePlan order and the stock is then subject to a corporate action our standard practice is to execute orders when a price is met, even if the corporate action affects the price either technically (for example through a re-structure or because of market sentiment). However we reserve the right to cancel, amend or otherwise intervene in such orders.
5.26 We reserve the right not to offer a TradePlan or to withdraw the TradePlan facility on certain types of accounts.
5.27 We will not be liable for any failure to execute a TradePlan order for technical or operational reasons, except for negligence on our part.
5.28 We may refuse to sell investments that you have purchased or subscribed for through us until we have received cleared funds for that purchase or subscription. If we do accept instructions to sell investments that you have purchased or subscribed for through us before we receive cleared funds for that purchase or subscription, we may delay the transfer of the proceeds of sale from those investments into your nominated bank account, ISA or IICMA (as appropriate) until we have received cleared funds for your purchase or subscription.
5.29 We may refuse to accept any instructions. In particular, we may ask you for proof that you have the right to deal in investments for which you have given us instructions. We may not deal for you until you have provided us with proof that is satisfactory to us. In particular, we may not accept your instructions unless:
5.30 We will accept instructions to buy, sell or subscribe for investments for you:
5.31 If we negligently fail to carry out your instructions that we have accepted we will try to return you to your original position or the equivalent.
5.32 If settlement is due to take place more than 3 working days after the deal, we may require you to pay an additional charge. Details of this charge are available on request by calling us.
5.33 If you have an IICMA, when you buy or subscribe for investments we will debit your IICMA on the settlement date.
5.34 The following conditions 5.35 to 5.39 explain how Scheduled Subscriptions and Scheduled Investments work. The following are defined words in bold type have special meaning in relation to Scheduled Subscriptions and Scheduled Investments
An "Investment Day" is a day on which we will effect a Scheduled Investment for you. Each Investment Day that applies to you is set out in your investment plan which you can access through the Website.
A "Scheduled Investment" is a purchase of investments on one or a series of Investment Days chosen by you and specified on the Website.
A "Scheduled Subscription" is a payment by you to us from your nominated account on one or a series of Subscription Days chosen by you and specified on the Website.
A "Subscription Day" is the day on which funds must be available from your nominated account to make a Scheduled Subscription. You can choose from the available days listed as Subscription Days on the Website.
5.35
5.36
5.37
5.38 For your Scheduled Investments, once we know the price of Investments to be bought in accordance with your instructions, we will calculate the number of Investments to be allocated to you and allocate them to you as soon as reasonably practicable after we have completed the Deal.
5.39 Information about your Investments and about transactions you have undertaken and matters such as your Subscription Days will only be available to you through the Website.
6.1 Your account will be denominated in pounds sterling or in euros if by that time the euro has been adopted as the UK's currency. We will carry out deals and settle them with you in pounds sterling or in euros as appropriate.
Where we are required to settle any transaction with a Market in a currency other than pound sterling, we shall convert into or out of the relevant currency in accordance with clause 5.3, the amount of funds necessary for settlement.
6.2 If as a result of deals or otherwise we have to apply more than one payment to or from your nominated bank account where we can, we may combine them into a single net payment. Also, if at any time we owe you more money than you owe us, we may pay you the difference to settle the amounts that we owe each other.
Conversely, if at any time you owe us more money than we owe you, we may require you to pay the difference to us. If such a payment is due to us and you have authorised us to deduct payments through your direct debit instruction, we will inform you of this at least 1 working day before we do so.
6.3 We may decide to make payments by cheque. If we make a payment by cheque because we have not been able to complete the transfer of funds into your nominated bank account, we reserve the right not to pay you any interest on the funds transferred to you in these circumstances.
6.4 If you are going to make a payment by debit card and your bank imposes a floor limit on your debit card, it is your responsibility to notify them of the payment that we will request so that we can collect it.
6.5 We will not be liable for any loss arising directly or indirectly from the late collection of a direct debit payment that is not due to our fault, including any loss of investment opportunity or loss of tax relief.
6.6 We accept no responsibility for default or other failure to perform by a third party settlement agent, depository, clearing or settlement agent or system or any participant in one of them except where such default or failure is directly caused by our willful default or negligence in connection with the performance of services under these terms.
6.7 If you make a sale within your ISA, subject to conditions 5.32 and 6.2 we will transfer the net sale proceeds into your ISA on the settlement date stated on the contract note, unless you ask us to transfer them into your nominated bank account. We will start this process once we have received settlement funds from the market.
6.8 If you make a sale we will credit your IICMA on the settlement date shown on your contract note. For your convenience sales proceeds from sales other than share certificate sales can be reinvested straight away.
6.9 If you have an IICMA and make a "Sell to Withdraw" instruction we will begin the automatic credit of your nominated bank account once we have received settlement funds from the market. However, please note for all accounts, we may need to validate your nominated bank account details before we pay you. This may lead to a delay in your receiving the funds.
6.10 If you fail to make payment by the settlement date stated on the contract note and notified to you at the time of the deal, we may:
6.11 Until we receive in cleared funds any outstanding amounts that you owe us:
6.12 Title to any investments shall not pass to you until you have paid for them and our related charges in full.
7.1 Investments that you buy or subscribe for or transfer into your account will be held in safe custody in your account. There are charges for some services (see the Website). If you ask us to, we will accept a transfer of CREST eligible or Cofunds eligible investments direct from another nominee. If you hold investments in the form of a certificate, you can apply for them to be transferred into your account, although this does not apply to an ISA subject to 12.7.
7.2 We will not lend or deposit by way of collateral any investments in your account to a third party without your express permission.
7.3 You must not use the investments and cash in your account as security for a loan. Money may not be borrowed on the security of investments in your account.
7.4 Some companies offer special benefits to their shareholders (that is, "shareholder perks"). As your investments will be pooled with those of other clients and will be registered in the name of our nominee, we may not be able to claim shareholder perks for you. However, if we can claim shareholder perks for you and you ask us to do so, we will do this and pass them on to you.
7.5 If you ask, we will arrange for you to:
We will only use any rights we have to vote for you when you tell us to do so.
7.6 Funds can only be held pending investment. If you do not use the cash to deal within a period of 12 months, we may return it to you.
7.7 We will hold your funds so that we comply with the FSA Rules.
7.8 If you ask us to deal in overseas investments for you, we may hold your money in a bank account with an approved bank outside the UK or pass your money to an intermediate broker or agent, settlement agent or Over The Counter (OTC) counterparty outside the UK. In such circumstances the legal and regulatory regime applying to the approved bank, intermediate broker, settlement agent or OTC counterparty will be different from that of the UK and, in the event of a failure of the bank, intermediate broker, settlement agent or OTC counterparty your money may be treated in a different manner from that which would apply if your money was held by a bank intermediate broker or agent, settlement agent or OTC counterparty in the UK. Where we hold your money in a bank account with an overseas approved bank, such bank may be entitled to combine the account with any other account or to exercise any right of set-off or counterclaim against money in that account in respect of any sum owed on any account of ours. We will not be liable for the solvency, acts or omissions of any third party referred to in this term.
7.9 If we hold at least £1 in cash for you in your IICMA, we will pay interest on it. Interest is accrued daily and paid annually. The current rate(s) can be found on the Website www.iii.co.uk/sharedealing/intrates or by calling us.
7.10 Unless you have an IICMA or ISA, we will not pay interest on money that we hold for you.
7.11 Where your account, has been closed, transferred, or is in the process of being closed or transferred, we reserve the right not to pay to you amounts less than £5. Any balances not paid out will be set against our operating expenses. In addition, where we have sent you a cheque for less than £5 and that cheque has not been cashed within 6 months of issue, these monies will be set against our operating expenses.
7.12 Any cash that you are entitled to receive in connection with your account, will be rounded down to the nearest penny.
7.13 a If you have an IICMA or ISA all income and cash entitlements will be paid promptly into your account pending investment unless you ask us to pay income to your nominated bank account or elect to take part in a DRIP scheme
7.13 b You can elect to join a DRIP by giving us your online instruction or by calling us. Once you have elected to participate in the DRIP all future dividends on CREST eligible shares will be reinvested under the DRIP until you withdraw from the DRIP. If you have more than one account, you will need to give us separate instructions for each account.
7.13 c If your account has been restricted by us for any reason your DRIP instruction will not be actioned and any related money will be placed in your IICMA or ISA.
7.13 d The number of shares you will receive for each dividend will depend on:
7.13 e If your dividend and any cash balance brought forward, after taking into account costs, is not enough to buy at least one share, the whole of your dividend will be paid in cash to your IICMA or ISA. As Unit Trusts and OEICs can be bought in fractional amounts, we will invest any amount over £1 and buy the maximum amount available relating to the dividend you received.
7.13 f No, dividends will be reinvested on all of your CREST eligible shares and Cofunds eligible Unit Trusts and OEICs.
7.13 g If your whole holding is sold before the dividend payment date no reinvestment will take place and the whole of your dividend will be paid in cash to your IICMA or ISA.
7.13 h You can elect to leave the DRIP by giving an online instruction or by calling us.
7.14 We may offer you the option of using income to automatically buy more of one type of investment held in your IICMA or ISA. We will write to you separately if this option is available to you. We will choose the date of reinvestment.
7.15 If you are entitled to extra investments (for example, through a bonus or other capitalisation issue), we will automatically arrange to hold your new investments in your account.
7.16 If a corporate action happens in relation to your investments held in your account we will communicate with you outlining the terms and conditions (where applicable) of the offer, requesting your instructions by a given date. You must give us your instructions, by a method that we request, by the end of that given date. If we become aware of a corporate action at short notice, and do not have time to obtain your instructions, we will select the default option that is specified by the company in question or its registrar.
7.17 We may delay writing to you until the corporate action has been declared ex-entitlement or, in the case of a mandatory corporate action, until the corporate action has become effective and we have received the benefits to which you are entitled. With the exception of a compulsory acquisition, where we do not receive any instructions from you by a given date, we will not accept any such offer on your behalf without your specific instructions and will not accept instructions to accept only part of such an offer. This could mean any benefits that you were entitled to could lapse.
7.18 If we do not receive any instructions from you by a given date in respect of a compulsory acquisition, we will accept the basic terms of the acquisition on your behalf. We will write to you when this has occurred.
7.19 We must receive cleared funds from you by the given date that we notify to you before we can carry out an instruction to make a payment in respect of a corporate action. If you have an IICMA or ISA these funds will need to be available in the IICMA or ISA on the given date. If cleared funds are not available no action will be taken, subject to condition 7.16. If there are insufficient funds in your ISA, you can obtain cleared funds by selling investments held in your ISA and use these funds to meet the cash that is due. For an ISA, you can generate a subscription to meet the amount due, subject to the annual subscription limit for your ISA. We may give you the option to take up the corporate action outside the ISA.
7.20 The terms of a corporate action may require us to make an election on behalf of our nominee holding in a company. If it does, we may not be able to get instructions from all of our clients who hold shares in that company. We reserve the right not to offer the option to you. We will use reasonable efforts to give you an alternative option but we cannot guarantee that this will match the option given by the company.
7.21 If, as a result of a corporate action, we receive investments which are not "qualifying investments" for a stocks and shares component of an ISA under the ISA Regulations, we will transfer the investments directly to a share dealing account if you have one. Alternatively we can arrange for you to be sent a certificate or transfer the investments to another nominee. In certain circumstances we may offer you the option of selling the investment and retaining the sale proceeds in your ISA. We will notify you if this option is available to you. We may charge for these services and the latest charges are listed in the Website.
7.22 Where our nominee receives a distribution of entitlement to shares and any other benefits due to you arising from a corporate action, we will allocate the entitlement to your account promptly but at the latest in accordance with the FSA's guidelines. Any entitlements will be rounded down to the nearest whole share or to 6 decimal places for unit trusts.
7.23 Under the rules of any Market, if you are selling shares through us and you receive a related benefit to which you are not entitled, you must give up this benefit to us and we will collect it and pass it on to the person entitled to it. Equally, if you are buying shares and you do not receive a related benefit to which you are entitled we will claim that benefit for you. Entitlement is established by reference to the Market's "ex-date" (that is, the date on which an investment is traded without that entitlement) and not the "record date" (that is, the date on which it is determined all holders shown on the register will receive a benefit).
If you make a corporate action election and subsequently sell your shares, you will be liable for any costs associated with us having to buy back those shares to honour your election. You will also be liable to pay for any loss arising from adverse movements in the share price.
7.24 Where we are required to make a corporate action call payment on your behalf, or we need to pay you a dividend, interest or a cash entitlement in a currency other than pounds sterling, we will make the appropriate currency conversion in accordance with clause 5.3 and will inform you of the pounds sterling equivalent and when we are to debit this from your nominated bank account, ISA or IICMA.
7.25 You cannot transfer investments out of our nominee until you have paid for them and they are held in your account.
7.26 You may ask to withdraw your investments and or cash held in any account we hold for you, at any time. We will transfer investments direct to another nominee, or, at your request, we will arrange for you to be sent a certificate in your name for those investments. We will charge you for these services. For cash, we may credit your nominated bank account. The latest charges are listed in the Website.
7.27 If we reasonably believe that you are using the Interactive Investor Share Dealing Service for illegal purposes, or if we find out that there is a disagreement about who owns or has authority to deal in the investments held for you under the Interactive Investor Share Dealing Service (including a disagreement between joint holders), we may freeze all or some of the investments held for you. This means that we will not allow anyone to deal with those investments or carry out any transactions until we are satisfied that you are not using your account for illegal purposes or that the disagreement is settled.
7.28 If we receive proof of your death that is satisfactory to us, our nominee will continue to hold your investments and any cash held in your IICMA or ISA. If our nominee was holding those investments and, if applicable, cash only for you, our nominee will follow the instructions of your personal representatives. If our nominee was holding those investments and, if applicable, cash for you and other joint holders, our nominee will follow the instructions of the other joint holders.
7.29 When we have received evidence of your death that is satisfactory to us, and we are asked by your personal representatives or any other person entitled to the investments in your account we will sell those investments and pay the proceeds and any other cash in your account (less any money owed to us or the HM Revenue & Customs) to them once we have verified their identity. Alternatively, if your personal representatives or any other person entitled to the investments in your account ask us to register them in the name of another person or people, we will do this once we have been able to verify their identity (less any money owed to us or the HM Revenue & Customs). Your account will then be closed.
7.30 Until we sell the investments, they will be subject to daily price movements as normal. When we know who your personal representatives are, we will tell them the value of the investments and cash in your account on the date of your death.
7.31 For an ISA any tax-exempt status will end on your date of death and we will stop collecting any monthly subscriptions.
8.1 We make dealing and other charges in connection with your account. We may also make administration charges for the ISA (see also conditions 12.23, 12.24). Details of all our current charges are listed in the Website. We may introduce new charges or change our existing charges. When you deal with us, our latest charges will apply. Because of this you should make sure that you have checked the latest charges on the Website.
8.2 We will collect dealing charges by adding them to the cost of buying investments, or by taking them from the sale proceeds. We may collect these charges, our administration charges or any other applicable charges from your IICMA, your nominated bank account or any other account you hold with us. Additional charges may be levied by the Fund Manager in relation to orders placed in Unit Trusts and OEICs. Any applicable charges will be included within the amount you are investing or deducted from the sale proceeds.
8.3 You will pay any Stamp Duty, Stamp Duty Reserve Tax, Value Added Tax or any other taxes or levies which apply when you buy or sell investments or incur charges. We will account to the appropriate authorities for all such taxes and levies. You will pay any other taxes for which you are liable in connection with a deal, for example Capital Gains Tax.
8.4 When we calculate our administration charges, we round up fractions of a penny to the nearest penny.
9.1 We may send you marketing information and market analysis but this will not form a personal recommendation and any decision about your investments rests with you.
We make market information available to you as part of the services provided through our online service. The market information is for your own personal use. You must not pass the information on to anyone else or use it for any commercial or unlawful purpose. If you think that someone has used market information without our permission, you must notify us straightaway.
If we provide market information, we use sources we believe to be reliable. If we use an independent information provider to provide market information, we will use all reasonable care and skill to choose that provider. But, because we and any provider have no control over the information sources, we cannot promise that the market information is accurate, complete, timely or in the right order. You must satisfy yourself that market information is reliable before you make any decisions or take any actions based on it. We are not responsible for any decision or action you take or any loss you or anybody else may suffer as a result of such a decision or action. We cannot promise that the market information will always be available to you.
9.2 As soon as is reasonably practicable following your deal, we will send you an e-mail stating that an online contract note is available on the secure area of the Website. If you do not receive an e-mail from us, you should not repeat your instruction; instead you should check the details of your deal through our secure website; clicking on the deal reference number will display the contract note details. You can also contact us for further information.
You will not receive any confirmations or other information relating to your deal(s) in hard copy or by e-mail. All information relating to your deal(s) and investments will be for viewing on the Dealing History page of the secure area of the Website.
If, at any point, the flow of information between us is interrupted (for example, your computer crashes or you can no longer access the Website), and you are not certain whether a deal has been accepted or not, do not try to enter the deal again. Instead, please try to log onto our online service again and check your Interactive Investor Share Dealing account details. If you cannot log on, or you are still uncertain about the deal, please telephone us and we will confirm the position.
Our records are conclusive (except for any errors and omissions). For a deal, this means that the information held on our computer systems, and the contract note or online confirmation for that deal, are the only valid evidence of the deal. In particular, the screen message may not be used as evidence of that deal.
9.3 If we are unable to provide you with an online contract note we will send you a paper contract note.
9.4 If we make a mistake when we carry out your instructions to make a deal we may provide you with or send you a contract note that shows our mistake. When we have corrected our mistake, we will provide you with or send you a contract note that will show the steps we have taken to correct the mistake.
9.5 As you have registered to use the online service, you will be able to view on the Website a valuation of your portfolio and a statement showing up to date details of any cash and stock movements on your account. The valuation of your portfolio during the dealing period will be the current market price, delayed by 15 minutes. If you are viewing your valuation after the dealing period has ended on a working day, it will be based on the close of business prices for that day. If you are viewing it on a day that is not a working day, it will be based on the close of business prices for the previous working day.
9.6 With the exception of the Interactive Investor Share Dealing Stocks and Shares ISA and a consolidated tax certificate (CTC) detailing the amount of any income received in the preceding tax year and any associated tax credit will be available to you via our secure website. It is your responsibility to keep a copy of your CTC. Requests for a duplicate CTC may incur a charge and may not be available if the original CTC is more than 6 tax years old.
9.7 We do not accept any responsibility for documents before we receive them or after they have been sent to you. You are responsible for any charges relating to the recovery or replacement of lost documents. You should keep a note of the date on which you post documents to us and of any cheque or certificate numbers to help with any enquiries that may arise. We do not accept responsibility for postal delays.
9.8 We will send all written notices and other communications to the address that you gave us when you applied for your account or the latest address that you have given us. They will be treated as arriving 48 hours after posting (if sent to an address in the UK) or 10 days after posting (if sent abroad). As you are registered for our online service you must supply us with an e-mail address. We will contact you by e-mail to inform you of deals on your account, pending corporate actions and other important communications. E-mails will be treated as arriving immediately upon sending by us.
9.9 If more than one person is registered as the holder of investments in an account, we will send all written notices and other communications to the person first named and those notices and communications will be treated as given to all holders.
9.10 If you change your name, address, e-mail address or other contact details, you must contact us by telephone or write to us straight away. If you have not told us about a change of contact details and we send a notice to the latest details that you have given us, it will be effective. You should make sure that the arrangements for receiving mail at your address are safe and that you can receive e-mail from us. We may also accept changes that you inform us about through our online service.
9.11 When we receive returned mail or e-mails, we will make reasonable endeavours to contact you to get your new details. We reserve the right to not send further communications to the old address or old e-mail address.
10.1 If you believe that we have failed to carry out your instructions correctly, you must report this to us immediately. We will investigate your complaint in accordance with the FSA Rules.
10.2 If you have a complaint about your account or would like details of our complaints procedures, please call us or write to the Customer Services Manager, Interactive Investor, Lovell Park Road, Leeds, LS1 1NS or e-mail us. If we cannot resolve your complaint to your satisfaction, you may have a right to complain directly to the Financial Ombudsman Service whose address is South Quay Plaza, 183 Marsh Wall, London E14 9SR.
10.3 If you have a complaint about the Website, please call Interactive Investor or e-mail them directly or write to the Compliance Officer, Interactive Investor, Standon House, 21 Mansell Street, London E1 8AA. If Interactive Investor cannot resolve your complaint to your satisfaction and it relates to your account, you may have a right to complain to the Financial Ombudsman Service at South Quay Plaza, 183 Marsh Wall, London, E14 9SR.
11.1 We will treat you as a retail client for the purposes of our relationship. We will act for you on an execution only basis which means we cannot give you investment or taxation advice.
11.2 We will carry out each deal under the Rules of the FSA and any Market on which we carry out that deal.
11.3 If we cannot perform any of our services under these conditions due to circumstances beyond our reasonable control, then we will take all reasonable steps to bring those circumstances to an end, but we will not be liable for our nonperformance except to the extent required by the FSA Rules, the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 or any regulations issued under that Act.
11.4 We can employ agents on such terms as we think fit and we can delegate any of our functions or responsibilities under these conditions. We will satisfy ourselves that any person to whom we delegate any functions or responsibilities under these conditions is competent to carry out those functions or responsibilities.
11.5 No notice of any trust, express, implied or constructive will be binding on us, or our nominee.
11.6 Your attention is drawn to the fact that there may be limited circumstances in which a conflict exists between your and our interests. To mitigate and control these conflicts we have drawn up a conflict of interest policy. A summary of this document is provided separately, although you may request a copy of the full policy at any time by contacting us.
11.7 Provided that we have complied with the Rules of the FSA, you agree that we can cease to treat as client money any unclaimed cash balance that we hold for you where there has been no movement in the balance for a period of at least 6 years and we can demonstrate that we have taken reasonable steps to trace you and to return the balance.
11.8 We may deal for you in investments that may have been the subject of "Stabilisation". Stabilisation is a process that supports the price of newly issued investments. It can make the market price of the newly issued investments temporarily higher than it would otherwise be. It may also affect the market price of investments of the same class already in issue and of other investments whose price affects the price of the newly issued investments. It is undertaken to ensure that:
11.9 Neither we nor any member of the Lloyds Banking Group accept any liability either for any consequential loss arising from error or omission, or in the event that the details of your nominated bank account that we hold are incorrect, but this will not exclude or restrict any obligation owed to you under the FSA Rules, the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 or any regulations issued under that Act.
11.10 If we give you at least 10 working days' notice either by writing to you or by publishing the change in at least two national newspapers subject to the consent of Interactive Investor, we may change these conditions for any valid reason and if it is reasonable to make the change. If we have accepted your instructions to carry out a deal before we give this notice, we will carry out and settle that deal in line with the conditions before the change is made. See also condition 5.8.
11.11 We have accepted responsibility under the FSA Rules for any custodian function carried out by our nominee in its capacity as an eligible nominee.
11.12 If we appoint a custodian to act as our nominee in respect of investments that are subject to the law or market practice of a jurisdiction outside the UK:
11.13 We are a participant in the Financial Services Compensation Scheme. As you have been categorised as a retail client, you may be able to make a claim on this scheme if we default in our obligations to you. Compensation of upto 100% of the first £30,000 and 90% of the next £20,000, to a maximum of £48,000, is available to eligible claimants. Further information can also be obtained from the Financial Services Compensation Scheme.
11.14 Your investments will be pooled with investments held for other clients. This means that your investments will not be identified by separate certificates. Our nominee companies are owned by us. If our nominee defaults, we accept full responsibility for it. We will not disclaim losses arising directly from its fraud, willful default or negligence. We are wholly owned by the Lloyds Banking Group.
11.15 Interactive Investor and/or Halifax Share Dealing Limited can suspend or withdraw all or part of the Interactive Investor Share Dealing Service from you at any time on immediate oral or written notice. Even if we have already received your instructions to carry out a deal, we will not be obliged to carry out and settle that deal in line with the conditions. If the Interactive Investor Share Dealing Service is suspended, you can ask us to transfer any investments that we hold for you into your name and the names of any joint holders and we will do this without charge. If the Interactive Investor Share Dealing Service is withdrawn from you, we will transfer any investments that we hold for you into your name and the names of any joint holders without charge.
11.16 If, after acting for you and our other clients for any transaction, we are left with fractions of investments or cash, we may add these together, sell them (in the case of investments) and keep the proceeds to set against our operating expenses.
11.17 We are not responsible for any loss incurred as a result of the actions or omissions of any third party.
11.18 Any references to provisions, rules or other requirements of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000, the FSA or any Market in these conditions, we mean the requirements from time to time in force.
11.19 If we are required to give warranties before acting for you, we may require you to give us an indemnity before we act.
11.20 You may exercise your right to withdraw from the Interactive Investor Share Dealing Service contract by giving us 14 calendar days' notice. Any instruction to buy, sell or subscribe for investments entered into during the notice period is not subject to this right. Any charges or fees incurred by you during the notice period remain your responsibility.
11.21 Where your account does not hold any investments or cash and has not been used for a period of 12 months or more, we reserve the right to treat your account as inactive and refrain from sending you any correspondence, documentation or marketing literature.
11.22 Where your account does not hold any investments or cash and has not been used for a period of 3 years or more, we reserve the right to treat your account as closed.
11.23 We reserve the right to pass your details to a third party for debt collection purposes if we reasonably believe any amount owing to us by you will not be paid.
11.24 It is agreed that these conditions are governed by English law and that any dispute will be dealt with by the English courts. All communication, either oral or written will be in the English language.
11.25 Like other financial organisations, we are legally obliged to collect, verify and record information confirming client identity and to report details of suspicious transactions to the Serious and Organised Crime Agency. For more details please contact us.
11.26 For details of the main credit reference agencies we use please contact us.
11.27 We may use credit scoring methods to assess your application and verify your identity. Members of our group and other companies may use credit searches and other information supplied to us and/or the credit reference agencies about you and someone linked financially with you, including previous and subsequent names, to make credit decisions about you or other members of your household. Any of this information may also be used for identification purposes, debt tracing, preventing money laundering and managing your account.
11.28 We may disclose any information you provide to us to a licensed credit reference agency that may retain a record of the search. We will use the results of the search to check your identity and to determine your credit worthiness, although we will not extend a line of credit to you.
11.29 We have systems that protect our clients and ourselves against fraud and other crime. Client information can be used to prevent crime and trace those responsible. We may check your details with fraud prevention agencies. If false or inaccurate information is provided and fraud is identified, details will be passed to fraud prevention agencies. Law enforcement agencies may access and use this information. We and other organisations may also access and use this information to prevent fraud and money laundering, for example, when:
Please telephone us on 0845 604 5494 if you want details of those credit reference agencies and fraud prevention agencies from whom we obtain and with whom we record information about you. We and other organisations may access and use from other countries the information recorded by fraud prevention agencies. You have a legal right to these details.
11.30 Occasionally we search credit reference and fraud prevention agency files as well as our own internal group records to manage your account and take decisions such as whether to offer or continue to offer our service. Lenders who may assess your ability to obtain credit may see these searches.
11.31 'Associations' linking your financial records may be created on Credit Reference Agency records when you apply for accounts in joint names. Your financial records, and those of anyone financially associated with you, may be considered in any future applications you make.
11.32 The Data Protection Act puts obligations on users of personal information and lays down principles for its use. One principle states that information has to be processed fairly and lawfully. This means that you are entitled to know how we intend to use any information you provide. You can then decide whether you want to give it to us. To provide outstanding client service we need accurate client information. You can help by informing us whenever your circumstances change. Organisations must lodge a notification with the Information Commissioner describing the purposes for which they process personal information. The details are publicly available from the Commissioner's office at Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 5AF Tel: 01625 545745. Fax 01625 524510. Alternatively, see the Commissioner's website: www.informationcommissioner.gov.uk
11.33 We may ask any other member of the Lloyds Banking Group to give us information about you which will help us to identify you. We and other members of the Lloyds Banking Group may exchange information about you for administrative purposes.
11.34 Our main use of your personal information is to look after your account or to provide the specific service you require. Interactive Investor may use your details to inform you by letter, telephone, e-mail or otherwise about any special shareholder offers, products or services offered by Interactive Investor and selected third parties, unless you ask them not to do so. If you do not wish to hear about these please go to www.iii.co.uk/profile to amend your profile. Remember, however, that opting out could stop you hearing about our special shareholder offers or products and services which may benefit you.
11.35 We agree not to solicit you by telephone or other interactive dialogue about products and services which may be of interest to you.
11.36 We will not provide information about you to companies outside of Interactive Investor to use for their marketing purposes. We disclose personal information only with your consent, or if we are required to do so by law. Sometimes we need to give information to our agents and subcontractors so that they can provide a particular service for us. Sometimes, these companies may be located abroad in countries that do not have data protection laws. In these circumstances we always take great care to ensure that your personal information is kept safe and secure.
11.37 We may use your account details, transactions and information provided to us by third parties in our client contact programme.
11.38 You agree that:
11.39 We may record telephone conversations to fulfil regulatory record keeping requirements, offer you additional security, resolve complaints and improve our service standards. Conversations may also be monitored for staff training purposes.
11.40 If you e-mail us, or give us your e-mail address, we will keep a record of it. Interactive Investor may use it to contact you occasionally about our products and services unless you ask us not to do so. We will not give your e-mail address to any unauthorised third parties.
11.41 If you send us e-mail over the Internet, remember that it will be 'unsecure' and could be intercepted. If you do send us 'unsecure' e-mail, please keep the amount of confidential information you include to a minimum. We will do likewise when we reply.
11.42 Certain information collected may be classified as sensitive and we can only use such data where we have your explicit consent. This data relates to racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, religious beliefs, trade union membership, physical or mental health, sexual life, criminal proceedings and offences and will only be processed in order to provide the service requested.
11.43 Under the Data Protection Act you have the right of access to information we hold about you on our records. The Act allows us to charge a fee of £10 for this service. If anything is inaccurate or incorrect, please let us know and we will correct it.
11.44 We may disclose any information that we have about you or your account to any governmental or regulatory body entitled by law to that information.
12.1 For the purposes of the ISA Regulations, your ISA will not start until we have received your first subscription.
12.2 You can subscribe to an ISA by:
12.3 You can transfer investments or the cash value of an ISA held with another ISA Manager into the Interactive Investor ISA. Any cash value transferred into the Interactive Investor ISA must be held pending investment in qualifying investments.
12.4 Subscriptions to your Interactive Investor ISA in any tax year must not exceed those limits set by HM Revenue & Customs. The limit that applies is detailed in our brochure and website, these limits may vary in each tax year.
12.5 For monthly subscriptions, we will give you a choice of a limited number of collection dates. We will normally debit funds from your nominated bank account on the same day of each month as the first collection date (or, if that day is not a working day, the first working day after that day). If we agree, you can change the date on which we collect your payment each month.
12.6 For purchases of or subscriptions for investments, we will debit the net total due from the funds we hold for you in your ISA. If there are insufficient funds in your ISA, we will take a payment from your nominated bank account for the balance of any subscription.
12.7 We will transfer shares received under a savings-related share option scheme, an approved profit-sharing scheme or an approved employee share ownership plan into your ISA as soon as reasonably practicable after we have received your instructions to do so and any necessary documentation we have asked you to complete is properly completed.
In the case of a savings-related share option scheme, you must make the transfer within 90 days of your exercise of an option. In the case of an approved profit sharing scheme, you must make the transfer within 90 days from the day on which you direct the trustees to transfer the shares to you or, if earlier, the day on which the shares are released from the scheme. In the case of a share incentive plan, you must make the transfer within 90 days after the shares ceased to be subject to the plan.
12.8 We will accept instructions to transfer ISAs from another ISA Manager in writing or by telephone. Upon receipt of your instruction we will send you a form to complete. Once returned and fully completed we will contact your existing ISA Manager to arrange transfer. To complete the transfer we require the name and address of your current ISA Manager and the account number(s).
12.9 ISAs transferred from other ISA Managers will be accepted either by transferring investments, cash or a combination of investments and cash.
12.10 Interactive Investor can close your ISA at any time by giving you at least 30 calendar days' notice.
12.11 You can close your ISA at any time in writing or by telephone.
12.12 If our appointment as ISA Manager is ended BY IITL, we will give you at least 30 calendar days' notice that we intend to end your ISA and notify you of your right to transfer your ISA to another ISA Manager. Unless you ask us to transfer your ISA to another ISA Manager we will close it.
12.13 If your ISA is closed by IITL, we will give you certain options. Charges may apply. Please see the Website. We will:
12.14 We may complete any transactions that we have started before we receive your notice.
12.15 If your ISA has a valuation of less than £250 we reserve the right to close the account and send you the balance, less any charges that are due.
12.16 Subject to 7.11 where your account has been transferred to another ISA Manager and we receive dividends, interest or other income on your behalf we will send this income to the new ISA Manager except where the amount is less than £50 when we will send this income directly to you.
12.17 We will give the HM Revenue & Customs any information about your ISA that the law says we must.
12.18 If we have passed any tax to you that you are not entitled to, we can deduct this amount from your ISA and repay the HM Revenue & Customs. (see also 7.26 and 12.20)
12.19 We are required to account to the relevant tax authority for any tax arising from any dividends, interest payments and cash entitlements paid on investments in your ISA. You authorise us to collect this out of any cash that we hold for you in your ISA or, if you do not hold sufficient cash, by selling investments from your ISA.
12.20 Under the ISA Regulations, we will tell you if your ISA has been made void and will no longer benefit from the tax relief that applies to ISAs. We will tell you to contact your HM Revenue & Customs office with details of your potentially void ISA. Alternatively, the HM Revenue & Customs may tell us that your ISA is void. In some circumstances we may be able to allow your ISA to continue. If this is the case you will be contacted. We may charge for this. Details of our charges are listed in the Website.
12.21 Under the current law relating to tax relief for ISAs, we will manage your ISA so that it will be free from Capital Gains Tax. When these conditions refer to tax relief, they mean the tax relief that applies at the date of publication of these conditions. Tax relief could change in the future. If the tax relief that applies to /or ISAs changes, your ISA will continue but it will be affected by that change.
12.22 If we hold at least £1 in cash for you in your ISA, we will pay interest on it. Interest is accrued daily and paid annually.
Under the ISA Regulations we must deduct a flat rate charge, currently 20%, from interest on your ISA and pay this charge to the HM Revenue & Customs. The current interest rate(s) is available on the Website www.iii.co.uk/sharedealing/intrates or by calling us.
12.23 Where an administration fee applies, we will collect administration fees for your ISA through your debit card or direct debit instruction. At our discretion we may collect fees from cash held in your ISA (see 12.24) or any account you hold with us. We can also collect fees by cheque or by selling any investments you hold.
12.24 We reserve the right to set a minimum cash reserve level in your ISA to meet fees, charges, taxes or duties arising in connection with your ISA.
We hope that this document has been helpful. If you'd like more general information, the Financial Services Authority (FSA), the financial services watchdog, provides a range of free consumer booklets and factsheets and a Consumer Helpline. Visit their website at www.moneymadeclear.fsa.gov.uk or call 0300 500 5000. The FSA can only give general information and cannot recommend the products of any company.
The Interactive Investor Share Dealing Service is operated by Halifax Share Dealing Limited which is part of the Lloyds Banking Group. Registered in England No.3195646. Registered Office: Trinity Road, Halifax, West Yorkshire, HX1 2RG. Authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority, 25 The North Colonnade, Canary Wharf, London E14 5HS. A Member of the London Stock Exchange.
"Interactive Investor" is the trading name of Interactive Investor Trading Limited, an independent intermediary authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority.