Every year millions of people will open new ISAs to take advantage of generous tax free savings allowances and here at ISA Rates we can guide you through the process of finding the highest ISA interest rates available.

We'll help you compare ISA rates whether you are looking for the best cash ISA, maxi ISA or self-select ISA. And that's not all; we will first introduce you to the ISA, educate you on the things to look out for when opening one and what you should know about the restrictions placed on them.

An ISA or individual savings account is a government initiative to try an encourage us, the general population, to save for our futures. The basis of an ISA is that it forms a tax-free haven for our savings and/or stock market interests.

The current ISA system was brought in by the current Labour government in 1999 and replaced the old and somewhat outdated system of Tax Exempt Special Savings Accounts (TESSAs) and Personal Equity Plans (PEPs) and are guaranteed to run until at least 2010.

Full ISAs can only be opened by persons over the age of 18 but individuals as young as 16 years of age can open a mini cash ISA or the cash component of a maxi ISA.

ISA rates will rise and fall with Bank of England base rates but variation between banks, buildings societies and ISA specialists are simply due to the intense competition in the sector. Every provider knows that an ISA can only be opened once per tax year per person and so by offering higher ISA interest rates they hope to entice people into saving with them.

They are also aware that many people who open an ISA will tend to use the same company each year in order to simplify the process. In this way, banks and building societies can sometimes get return savers for very long periods of time.

• Is the ISA rate an introductory offer?
• If it is, how long does it last and what rate will you receive after the intial period is up?
• How easy is it to withdraw funds from the ISA should you wish to? How quickly can this be done?
• Is the interest payed monthly, quarterly or yearly?