iWeb (now Scottish Widows Share Dealing)

The published tariff says no annual charge for a Stocks & Shares ISA or Share Dealing Account, £5 for a standard online UK share or fund trade, and free Regular Investing Plan purchases. Fund managers' ongoing charges and transaction costs still apply, regardless of broker. There is no opening-fee assumption in the comparisons here. The platform directory gives the wider market context.

For a SIPP, the same page gives 0.25% a year on investment value, capped at £16.50 per month (£198 annually). It is not a £0-fee pension: on a steady £10,000 holding the simple annualised charge is £25; at £50,000 it is £125; at £150,000 the cap makes it £198. Monthly valuations affect the actual bill. If you opened an iWeb SIPP before 25 October 2024, the tariff directs you to separate legacy charges: check those rather than applying the new rate by default. See the dedicated fees breakdown for other services.

Chart assumptions: one ISA and UK share/ETF trades only, all one-off (not free regular investing); no promotions, tax, spreads, fund charges, FX, dividends or cash interest. £10k and £50k use ii Core (£5.99/month plus £3.99/trade). £150k uses ii Plus (£14.99/month, £3.99/trade, one free monthly trade): the two trades are in separate months; 24 trades are two per month, leaving 12 payable. Both ii's published charges and Scottish Widows' tariff are the inputs. Costs do not include market movements or changes in account size. A £150k portfolio cannot stay on ii Core under its published £100k plan limit. This isn't a forecast of investment returns.

Holding size alone does not change the Scottish Widows ISA fee. For each of £10,000, £50,000 and £150,000, two standard UK trades cost £10 a year; 24 cost £120. That is the entire platform-plus-dealing total under the chart's assumptions. Buying monthly through its free Regular Investing Plan instead changes the dealing part to £0 for eligible scheduled purchases; check investment eligibility and how/when the plan executes before counting on this. Selling is not a free regular purchase.

The ii comparator is deliberately a service choice, not an assertion that identical accounts cost the same in every circumstance. Two trades at £10k or £50k cost £79.86 on Core (12 × £5.99 + 2 × £3.99); 24 cost £167.64. At £150k, Plus costs £179.88 if each of two monthly trades uses its included allowance, or £227.76 for two trades every month (12 × £14.99 + 12 × £3.99). ii has research, multiple-currency facilities and a pension within its plan; those can be worth paying for. If your comparison is chiefly ETF-only investing, check the different investment ranges in our Trading 212 versus InvestEngine ISA comparison rather than pretending every zero-fee broker offers individual gilts.

For a different comparison, HL's March 2026 tariff sets 0.35% for an ISA and caps the annual account charge for shares, ETFs and bonds at £150. A £100k holding of funds is not the same fee example as £100k of ETFs: don't extrapolate a £12,000 saving from a single generic £100k portfolio. Over 20 years the cash fees and returns depend on holdings, dealing frequency, fee changes and growth. Your portfolio mix, not just its value, determines the answer.

The Scottish Widows tariff lists dividend reinvestment at 2% of each dividend capped at £5. On a £50 payment, that's £1; on £500, £5. For twelve £50 distributions, automatic reinvestment costs £12 across the year. Compare that with waiting and investing cash through an eligible free regular purchase — but weigh the time out of the market and any minimum investment or execution constraints. Manual UK dealing costs £5 per order, not per dividend.

International trades carry no dealing commission, but the stated FX charge is 1.5% of the exchange rate. Ignoring price and currency movements, £1,000 converted to buy overseas shares implies about £15 of conversion cost; converting sale proceeds back incurs another FX charge on the amount converted. That is not a flat £0 round trip. For direct overseas-share traders, FX can swamp years of £0 custody. Check the live exchange rate and quote before dealing. UK share purchases can also incur stamp duty (the tariff lists 0.5%); it isn't a broker's platform fee.

The more subtle cost is idle cash: the provider explicitly pays 0% on ISA and Share Dealing Account cash balances, while its SIPP cash rate is a separately published current rate. Don't apply the 0% ISA figure to the SIPP. If you routinely keep a large cash reserve between trades, compare the actual available cash rate elsewhere rather than assuming the policy rate is an achievable return. An ISA transfer can involve time out of market or a stock transfer: Scottish Widows says it charges nothing to transfer in or out, but if another provider will not accept stock you may have to sell, with dealing costs and market exposure. See our ISA hub for the wrapper choices.

The platform's low custody charge is particularly interesting for someone holding a small number of individual bonds alongside funds. But a gilt's return depends on purchase price, accrued interest, maturity and inflation — not on the platform's £5 trade fee. Do not repeat the old review's August 2026 yield quotes as though they were today's yields, or treat an illustrative ladder as an executable quote. Use the gilts hub to assess the current market, and confirm the instrument and quoted dealing terms in the platform before placing an order. A gilt fund and an individual gilt are not interchangeable: a fund continuously rolls its holdings; an individual gilt pays its redemption value at maturity, assuming the issuer meets its obligations.

An individual gilt bought outside an ISA has a distinctive tax treatment, explained in our guide to buying gilts. This is not a promise of a tax-free total return: coupon income and gains are different things, dealing price matters, and an ISA already shelters eligible investments. Don't buy a low-coupon bond solely because a hypothetical CGT calculation looks attractive.

Keep or consider Scottish Widows Share Dealing if your ISA is invested in assets available on the platform, you make few chargeable trades, and you will check execution prices and fund costs independently. The flat £5 trade is easy to budget. Existing iWeb customers should use the provider's current Scottish Widows account instructions rather than assume a second new account is required; the provider's homepage describes the service transition and app access.

Look elsewhere first if you trade overseas shares frequently, expect to hold a meaningful ISA cash balance, want a £0 SIPP, or need comprehensive research and portfolio tools. A £0 ISA platform charge does not buy advice or insure you against market losses. The provider identifies Halifax Share Dealing Limited as the operator, authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), registration 183332. Regulation is not a return guarantee. Check the provider's current terms and the investment's own costs before moving a portfolio.

This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice. You should seek independent financial advice before making any investment decisions.