Savings (Government Contributions) Act 2017 section 11

Opening a Help-to-Save account

Section 11 of Schedule 2 sets out the conditions that must be met before a Help-to-Save account can be opened for an individual, the rules around applications, and the Treasury's powers to make further regulations about the account opening process.

• Three conditions must all be satisfied to open an account: the application must comply with the regulations, the individual must be an eligible person on the relevant eligibility reference dates, and no Help-to-Save account must have previously been opened for that individual.
• The Treasury may make regulations governing how applications are made, including the form and manner of application, what information applicants must supply and to whom, and whether the individual themselves must be the one who applies (with possible exceptions).
• Further Treasury regulations may require an account provider to refuse to open an account in specified circumstances, require the account to be held and operated by the individual for whom it was opened, and allow exceptions to both the personal operation rule and the rule against having a previous account.
• Where a 16 or 17 year old enters into a contract in connection with a Help-to-Save account opened for them, the contract is treated as though the individual had been 18 or over at the time, removing any legal capacity issues that might otherwise arise.