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What if I have a complaint?The first step is to take it up with your ISA manager. They will have a complaints procedure, which should be able to help you. If you are not happy with the answer you get, you can take the matter up with the Financial Ombudsman Service.

There are two types of ISA: Mini ISAs and Maxi ISAs. You can put money into either of them in any tax year, but you cannot put money into both a Mini ISA and a Maxi ISA in the same tax year.

ISA policies must meet a number of conditions to qualify. Managers offering life insurance will be able to give you details of the policies.

Make sure you know whether the ISA manager will charge for running your ISA, including any charges for withdrawals and transfers.

Can I put windfall or inherited shares in my ISA? No. You can only transfer shares you own into an ISA if they have come from an employee share scheme. Otherwise, the ISA manager must purchase shares on the open market.

ISA investments form part of your estate for Inheritance Tax purposes.

The ISA manager may pay interest on this cash while it is held in the account. There is no income tax to pay on this interest, but the manager by law must deduct a flat rate 20% charge before crediting it to the account. You do not have to declare this interest on a tax return.

If you are aged 15 or under, you cannot have an ISA.

What types of life insurance can be included in the ISA?The ISA can include life insurance policies which are:
-'unit linked' or 'investment linked' policies. This is like a 'pooled' investment such as a unit trust

You can only put money into either one Maxi ISA or up to two Mini ISAs – one each for cash and stocks and shares.

The insurer does not have to pay tax on income and capital gains on investments used to back your ISA life insurance policies. You do not have to pay any tax when the policy pays out.

What can the cash component include? The cash component of an ISA can include:
-bank and building society accounts
-units or shares in UK authorised unit trusts and open-ended investment companies (OEICs) which are money market schemes (sometimes called ‘cash funds’) and fund of funds schemes which invest in them.
-National Savings and Investments products which are specially designed for ISAs (but not other National Savings and Investments products such as the Investment Account, Savings Certificates or Pensioners' Guaranteed Income Bonds
-certain shares and units that fail to meet the qualifying conditions for the stocks and shares component
-life insurance policies that fail to meet the qualifying conditions for the stocks and shares component. These will generally be policies that guarantee to return 95% of the money you initially invested within 5 years from the date you made the investment.

Cash ISAs may be suitable for short-term savings, so that you can get at your money easily.