Average top ISA rate ‘up by 0.2% in a year’

Savers looking to protect their hard earned cash from the taxman now have a higher allowance for their tax free savings pot.

On April 6, the start of the new tax year, the ISA limit was increased to £11,280, of which £5,640 can be saved in a cash ISA.

And according to figures from MoneySupermarket, the average top ISA rates are up by 0.2 per cent since last year.

But while a comparison of ISA products against non-ISA products shows little difference between rates, an ISA’s tax-free wrapper can help to grow savings, the comparison site said.

New products launched include the Starter ISA Issue 2 from Nottingham Building Society paying a rate of five per cent, and Nationwide’s Flexclusive ISA for FlexAccount customers offering a rate of 4.25 per cent.

Kevin Mountford, head of banking at moneysupermarket.com, said: “With rates on ISAs and non ISAs on a par, it’s a no-brainer for consumers to make the most of their ISA allowance.

“It’s also important savers who took out an easy access account with a short term bonus to note when the bonus finishes and act to switch. Otherwise, they may well end up on a rate much lower than the leading offers in the market.”

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