HSTM03600 - Administration: Limits on amounts paid into a Help-to-Save account

The total monthly deposits into any Help-to-Save account by the account holder must not exceed £50. Payments over this limit will not be accepted. The maximum monthly amount of £50 is a gross amount, so any account withdrawals are ignored when working out how much money has been deposited.

The minimum monthly amount that can be paid in to the account is £1, or a lower amount if agreed by the account provider.

Therefore, the maximum that can be deposited into a Help-to-Save account by an account holder is £2,400 (48 months x £50) and the maximum bonus payment payable to an account holder will be £1,200 in total.

The £50 deposit limit will apply on a calendar month basis and will be a gross payment limit. Therefore if there is a withdrawal from a Help-to-Save account it can only be replaced within the same month if deposits made during the month total less than the £50 monthly limit. For example:

• If a person pays in £50 and withdraws it later in the month, they cannot make another payment until the next calendar month; and
• If a person pays in £30 and withdraws it later on in the month, they can pay in a further £20 within the same calendar month

If an account holders does not pay in the full £50 limit in to the account in one month they will not be able to ‘rollover’ any unused amount of the £50 monthly limit to the next month. For example, if £40.00 is paid in during one month, the account holder is still able to make a further deposit of £10.00 during that same month as the monthly limit for deposits is £50. The following month, the limit to the amount the account holder can pay in to the account remains at £50. The unused £10 from the previous month is lost.

The account is not interest bearing.