Investments
Offshore Savings Account
A regular premium contract for clients building a portfolio from income rather than capital, with the option to increase, decrease or take a payment holiday.
Trinity College, Dublin · Diliff, CC BY-SA 4.0
Who it is for
Broker-introduced clients saving monthly
What it does
- Monthly, quarterly or annual contributions
- Contribution holidays without lapsing the contract
- Insured fund range with charge-free switching
- Top-ups from capital alongside the regular premium
The product in full
Most investment products assume the client already has capital. This one assumes they have income. A regular premium contract builds a portfolio out of monthly contributions, which is how the majority of people who eventually have a portfolio actually got one.
The design problem with regular saving is that life interrupts it. A contract that lapses when a client stops paying for six months punishes exactly the events — a redundancy, a move, a new child — that make saving hard. So this contract allows contribution holidays of up to twenty-four months in total without lapsing, and allows contributions to be increased, decreased or indexed as circumstances change.
Capital top-ups sit alongside the regular premium, which means a bonus or a small inheritance can go into the same contract rather than starting another one. Over a fifteen-year term that consolidation is worth having: one contract, one statement, one set of instructions.
Literature
Product literature is issued to appointed intermediaries. Ask your underwriter, or request it through the enquiry form.
- Key features documentOn request
- Direct debit mandateOn request
How it works
What happens, in order
From the first enquiry to the point the cover, the contract or the facility is in place.
A contribution and a term are set
From £500 a month, over a minimum five-year term, monthly, quarterly or annually. Indexation at CPI or a fixed percentage is optional at outset.
Contributions buy units in the insured fund range
The adviser selects the funds, and switching between them is free.
Contributions can be varied, or paused
Increased, decreased, or suspended for up to twenty-four months in total across the life of the contract without lapsing it.
Top-ups from capital go into the same contract
So a lump sum does not require a second wrapper, a second statement and a second set of instructions.
The numbers
A worked example
Illustrative arithmetic, so the shape of the product is visible rather than described. Nothing here is a quotation or a projection.
£500 a month for ten years, with a year off
Contributions only. No growth is assumed, because the purpose of this arithmetic is to show what a holiday costs, and that is a question about contributions rather than about markets.
- Monthly contribution
- £500
- Term
- 10 years
- Contributions if never interrupted
- £60,000
- Twelve-month contribution holiday
- −£6,000
- Contributions actually paid
- £54,000
- Contract status during the holidayUp to 24 months cumulative, and the contract does not lapse
- In force
Illustrative arithmetic on contributions, not a projection of value. What a holiday really costs is the growth those contributions would have had, which is unknowable — the £6,000 is simply the part that can be stated.
Contributions accumulated over a long term
£500 a month, uninterrupted, at four points in a twenty-year term.
View these figures as a table
| Contributions paid to date | |
|---|---|
| Year 5 | £30,000 |
| Year 10 | £60,000 |
| Year 15 | £90,000 |
| Year 20 | £120,000 |
Suitability
Where the Offshore Savings Account fits
The cases it answers, the cases it does not, and what an underwriter needs before quoting.
It is the right answer when
- A client saving from income rather than investing capital.
- Someone whose income is variable and who needs the option to pause.
- A long horizon — ten years or more — where indexation keeps the contribution meaningful.
Look at something else when
- A capital sum with no regular saving; the Delta or Premiere contracts are the single premium wrappers.
- A term under five years.
What we need to quote
- 1.Application, direct debit mandate and source of funds evidence.
- 2.Contribution, frequency, term and any indexation basis.
- 3.Fund selection from the published range.
Questions
What brokers ask us about this product
What happens if a client stops paying?
Up to twenty-four months of cumulative holidays are allowed without lapsing the contract. Beyond that the contract is dealt with under its own terms, so tell us before the payments stop rather than after.
Can contributions be increased later?
Yes, and indexation can be added or removed. A contribution that never rises is worth less every year in real terms, which is why the option exists.
Can a lump sum go in?
Yes. Top-ups from capital are accepted alongside the regular premium, in the same contract.
Request information
Ask us about the Offshore Savings Account
The form reaches an underwriter in Dublin. If you are an intermediary, say so and we will route it to the broker desk.