A: SimplyStockbroking is an online share dealing service you can use to buy and sell shares online or over the telephone at a flat commission of just £8 per trade. Using your SimplyStockbroking account or ISA, you can trade in a range of companies listed on the London Stock Exchange.
A: We don’t charge any management fees or inactivity fees for our SimplyStockbroking accounts. We charge a small cash Corporate Action or Dividend processing fee, this is 10% of the value of the transaction with a minimum charge of £0.25 and maximum of £1. Certificated trades are charged at a different commission rate of 1.25% of the trade value capped at £40, with a minimum of £12. Our simple and transparent charges can be found in the Charges section.
A: To open your SimplyStockbroking account or ISA, simply go to our Online Trading section, click ‘Open an Account’ and complete the application form. If your online application is successful, you will be able fund your account by debit card and trade immediately. Alternatively you can find paper applications forms in the Forms section of the site. Please ensure you read our Terms of Business and note you must have funds in your account before you can start to buy shares.
A: Yes, around 90% of applications are successful online and accounts opened immediately. If you want to buy shares simply fund your account and start trading. If you want to sell shares you already hold as certificates, these will need to be transferred to your SimplyStockbroking Account first.
A: If you application doesn’t complete automatically online you will be advised of this and given the option to print pre filled paper application forms. Simply print these out, sign them and send them to us along with the ID verification documentation requested within them. Once we receive the completed forms we will manually open your account.
A: To fund your account go to the ‘Funding Options’ on the menu at the top of each page and select 'Fund my Account'. On the Funding page select which account you want to fund, either your Stockbroking Account or Stocks and Shares ISA. We accept all major UK debit cards. Funds paid in by debit card are credited to your account and available to trade with straight away. Please note that under UK law you cannot buy shares with funds from a credit card.
Alternatively you can send us a cheque or by BACS payment directly in to our bank account; these methods take longer as the funds have to clear before they will appear on your account.
A: No is the simple answer.
For a SimplyStockbroking Account there is no minimum or maximum value which must be maintained in your account. You can fund it by debit card with any value from £20 to £20,000 per payment. If you wish to put in more than £20,000 by debit card you have to make more than one payment.
No limits apply to bank transfers or cheque payments. For a SimplyStockbroking Stocks and Shares ISA the amount you can put in is limited by current UK tax law.
A: Placing an order is simple. Once you have decided which stock you would like to trade in go to the ‘Place Order’ section for the account you want to trade in. Enter the company details, quantity or amount to invest or raise and click next. You will be given a firm quote with a 15 second countdown; if you decide to accept the quote you will get a trade confirmation screen with all the details of the trade on it and a contract note will be sent to your secure mailbox within you SimplyStockbroking account which you can then save or print for your records.
A: This is a confirmation of your transaction and is sent out to your SimplyStockbroking secure mailbox immediately after you have traded. You can print or save this for you records.
A: A limit order is a method of setting the price at which you are prepared to buy or sell shares. Should this price ever be reached, your order will be dealt automatically. Your limit order will be held for the time period that you specified. Please note that you are responsible for cancelling these orders and ensuring that you have sufficent stock or cash (including Stamp & Commission) to cover the order. If you don't have sufficent stock or cash the limit will fail when the price is reached.
A: Is there a minimum/minimum size of order? No. Provided you have funds on your account you can deal up to the value of those funds. Due to ‘market size’ restrictions set by market makers some orders may not go through online automatically but you can telephone our dealers and they will help you fulfil orders over market size.
A: Normal settlement is 3 working days (T+3).
A: Yes, we give you value to trade on unsettled funds immediately.
A: No. This is a nominee service which means that the shares are held electronically in a pooled nominee account. You remain the beneficial owner of the shares. If you decide you would like to have the shares re-registered in to your own name and receive a certificate, this can be done very easily and is subject to the re-registration charge. We also offer a service for buying and selling shares in paper form. This is at a different rate of commission and more information on this can be found in the Certificated Trading section of the site.
A: Once you have logged in you will have access to your portfolio either from the menu or by clicking on the securities value on the Summary screen. In your portfolio you will be able to see what stocks you hold, current price, book cost and notional profit/loss.
A: Once you have logged in you will have access to your portfolio either from the menu or by clicking on the securities value on the Summary screen. In your portfolio you will be able to see what stocks you hold, current price, book cost and notional profit/loss.
A: You can buy and sell shares in most companies that are listed on the the main UK securities markets the London Stock Exchange, Plus Markets and AIM. ou can also trade in International markets including US & Canada over the phone as long as the stock can be settled through CREST.
A: You can trade during normal London Stock Exchange market hours – from 8.00am until 4.30pm, Monday to Friday (but not on Bank Holidays). Outside these hours you can choose to place a limit order which will be monitored during market hours.
A: A SimplyStockbroking Account is a nominee based account. If you have share certificates, you can transfer them to your account by downloading a Crest Transfer from the Forms Section. You need to complete a transfer form for each holding and then return to us at SimplyStockbroking Limited, 49 Whitehall, London, SW1A 2BX together with your valid share certificates (these must be in your name).
A: Once we receive your certificates and completed CREST Transfer form is takes around 2-4 days for your holding to be registered and appear in your account.
A: When you open a SimplyStockbroking account or ISA we will send you a broker transfer form automatically with your Welcome Pack. You can also download one from the Printable Forms section of the website. Complete, sign and return the form to us and we will then contact your broker and make arrangements for the transfer of your stock.
A: We will contact your existing broker on the day we receive your form, so the actual transfer should only take a few days. However, be aware that the speed of transfer is dependent on the efficiency of the other broker! Shares held in an ISA are normally transferred within 28 days.
A: All the information sent between you and our offices is encrypted giving you total peace of mind. We hold a valid security certificate for our website and in your web browser this can normally be evidenced by a closed padlock symbol up by the web address on any of the client pages while you are making an application for an account and once you are logged in.
A: A consolidated tax voucher is issued annually for dividends which are paid within the previous tax year. This will be delivered to your secure mailbox in your account shortly after the end of the tax year.
A: Dividends are normally credited to your SimplyStockbroking account on the day we receive cleared funds from the company registrar. The money can be re-invested at our normal commission rates or withdrawn to your bank account.
A: As you supply your bank details as part of your application you can simply go to the ‘Withdraw Funds’ section of the website and specify the amount you wish to withdraw. These are then paid by BACS to your bank account so please allow 3-5 working days for them to arrive.
A: To request your bank details to be changed send send us a message through the secure mailbox in your account. For security reasons we will need to see copies of your old and new bank statements before changing your registered details.
A: If you are changing address please send us a secure message though the secure mailbox in your account. We will then advise you what documentation we need to make the change for you.
A: You will first need to contact the broker to open an account with them and complete their transfer form. They will then send this to us and we will transfer the account on your behalf.
A: We will notify you in writing of any corporate actions through your secure mailbox in your account. You will need to respond to the message with the option you wish. If you do not respond we will take the default action as detailed in our Terms of Business.
A: In our Market Focus section you can search for company profiles, historic prices, company reports and much more.
A: Yes, SimplyStockbroking is an FSA authorised firm (FSA Number 485165). You can look up our current status on the FSA website .
A: As a client the most secure way to contact us is through the secure mailbox in your account. Alternatively you can contact us via our live chat on the contact us page or email our customer service team at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or telephone 020 7042 9910. We are open Monday to Friday, 8am to 5pm.
FAQ's