Saga And Halifax ?

sheilanick · 12 November 2008 at 7:51PM

I already have about £35000 in fixed rate Isa's with Halifax.

I have a further £45000 which I was going to invest in the Saga fixed rate bond at 6.85% and I have the application form ready to return..BUT am I right in thinking that there is a link between Halifax and Saga, which may affect the £50000 compensation limit?

In which case, should I restrict my new investment in Saga to under £15000? It will be frustrating not to take full advantage of the opportunity, given that the best rate now avaialble will probably be less than 6%

earlgrey_3 · 12 November 2008 at 8:14PM

I understand that Halifax, Bank of Scotland, Saga and Birmingham Midshires have just the single registration so FSCS compensation is limited to £50K for combined savings with them.

It's a question of risk versus return. I've got 35K with BM till April 09 and intend to put another £50-£60K with Saga so I'll be 'over the limit' till April. My wife has the same. But on balance I think with rates falling the theoretical risk is justified by the margin of the additional return and quite happy with that. I moved other investments into cash some while ago so I'm over the limit with a couple of other institutions too.

I think you have to calculate the risk/return yourself, there's always some risk when you part with your money, and take the course that you're comfortable with and doesn't cause you to lose sleep.

opinions4u · 12 November 2008 at 10:02PM

You are right. Saga+Halifax=same HBOS banking licence.

Can you invest in another person's name (e.g. spouse) and use their £50k allowance?

mary · 12 November 2008 at 11:06PM

It's tempting to go for the best rate, but in the worst case scenario, are you prepared to "lose" anything over the £50K - can you afford to?

Another factor (as my daughter's 2 student overdrafts have ended up in Icesave and we wait) is if your £50K was in limbo for some time if everything went pearshaped, can you manage to cope with other financial commitments whilst waiting to get that money back? I have decided to positively put my money in unconnected banks in slightly smaller amounts, so whilst one pot burns, the others are at least accessible.

Mikeyorks · 12 November 2008 at 11:09PM

Also note that Saga withdrew their Fixed Rate products at the beginning of this week. But (allegedly) will honour existing applications to the rate shown on the application and to the end of the month :-

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=1278491&highlight=saga

soulsaver · 13 November 2008 at 12:10AM

Joint account will give you £100k coverage, don't tell the OH the password.... but think funds must come from joint a/c.

And add AA Savings & Intelligent Finance to Birm Mids, Halifax, Bank of Scotland & Saga FOR SINGLE LICENCE OVER 'EM ALL - SO £50K IN TOTAL.
BTW I suspect that these'll be safe given the support Lloyds & HMG are putting in... but I still decided to forego the tempting 0.5% for diversification:
Kent Reliance for a postal still doing 6% for 1 & 2 years, download application form, cheques in by Wednesday next ...
Icici for a bit of spice still has > 6.0 fixes
Yorkshire Bank still doing >6.0 for 1 & 2 years ring and record interest and it'll be held for 5days (maybe more, ask) to get cheque in.
Each uk fscs £50k
:cool:

RayWolfe · 13 November 2008 at 10:18AM

soulsaver wrote: »

Joint account will give you £100k coverage, don't tell the OH the password.... but think funds must come from joint a/c.

Not a good idea! If the account is in a spouses name, it IS their money, not yours. But maybe you were saying that with your tongue in your cheek.

home_alone · 13 November 2008 at 7:56PM

Saga ia protected £50K single and £100K joint.

gary

Loco · 14 November 2008 at 6:52AM

I`m in the same situation........I have just set up 50k in the 6 month 6.9% Saga account and still have another 30k to put in another account. I have the possibility to put in Saga`s 12 month 6.35 % fixed rate but that would be going well over the FSCS limit.....and it`s difficult finding other high interest fixed accounts soin 2 minds about whether to invest more.

I keep reading HBOS is considered too big to be allowed to fail especially after the Llloyds takeover but we know what can happen of course

Ideally an instant access savings account would have been nice but the rates will no doubt plummet over time.

Primrose · 14 November 2008 at 4:37PM

The issue here is that in reality, the £50,000 compensation rate is very discriminatory against older people who have had a lifetime to accumulate more savings and are thus much more likely to have higher amounts to deposit, as well as people who have just sold a property and are reviewing their options. I think a £100,000 limit would not be unreasonable. You're certainly not wealthy today, even if you have this amount of savings.

Saga And Halifax ?

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