Ladies and gents - please calm down and stop adding to the hysteria

jm104

I have just phoned Icesave and they say that all savings up to £50000 will be protected and paid back in full and it will take up to 3 months IF the worse scenario happens. I managed to get some money out on sunday which will still be moved but unfortunately the bulk of my cash (£20000) was in a 6 month account.

I am just so angry!! I got stuffed on the last recession with mega negative equity and just when you think you are back on track this happens again. I admit I am an amateur where investments are concerned but have followed advice from this site on how to get back at the banks and look where it has got me. I am sitting here in dread with all the scaremongering going on, especially on this site and the BBC and as for the attitude of those that don't care - well it beggars belief and shows how we got into this mess in the first place when all people are worried about is their own greed and not what is happening to the everyday person.

bazster

blizeH wrote: »

As far as I know, no one has ever had to claim from the FSCS.

Hopefully, no one ever will either

Actually HM Government just did, on our behalf. It's the FSCS which will be making sure that the taxpayer gets every penny back from the B+B bailout.

KTF

BACKFRMTHEEDGE wrote: »

Well that's really useful. The ultimate in censorship.

What is your problem? Why can't you accept a real debate?

A debate is fine but when people continually post misinformation that causes more people to panic that isnt helpful one bit.

Look at all the threads going on about the same thing. People have withdrawn rather than transferred ISAs, etc as a result. I doubt they are going to get the opportunity to rescind that decision like they did with Northern Rock...

gax23

BACKFRMTHEEDGE wrote: »

Well that's really useful. The ultimate in censorship.

What is your problem? Why can't you accept a real debate?

It's an alien world for some people, I'm afraid. They're not used to someone challenging their blinkered beliefs. They can't seem to accept that some people may not have 'substantial savings' and that this presents a real problem for some people. Fortunately, I'm well-off enough not to be in that situation either but I'm not about to sit back and relax because 'I'm alright, Jack'. A lot of people are very worried and I'm completely on their side.

gax23

jm104 wrote: »

I admit I am an amateur where investments are concerned but have followed advice from this site on how to get back at the banks and look where it has got me. I am sitting here in dread with all the scaremongering going on, especially on this site and the BBC and as for the attitude of those that don't care - well it beggars belief and shows how we got into this mess in the first place when all people are worried about is their own greed and not what is happening to the everyday person.

I absolutely agree with you. The only saving grace we have is that these people will lose the lot one day.

leviathan wrote: »

Hysteria; rubbish.
If I'd been denied access to my money I'd be totally livid. Forget about this "level of protection", you've got no knowledge of how long it will actually take.

Yep - it's fear of the unknown as well. The world economy has ever been in this situation before, so how anyone can sit there repeating "everything will be fine" is absolutely beyond belief.

mikeymo_3

My point being that probably NOBODY here has ever claimed from the FSCS.

My reading of info about the FSCS seems to say:

The FSCS doesn't have a pot of money, all it has is the power to impose a levy on it's members. Up to a limit of £4bn a year. Which isn't very much if a bank totally collapsed and all it's depositors had to be recompensed.

Glib assertions that 'it'll be all right' or words to that effect aren't good enough. Nobody has any experience of the FSCS, so how do we know that it'll work? After all, for years people said 'you can't go wrong with bricks and mortar', and we know that many people have gone wrong with bricks and mortar.

At times in the history of humankind there have been massive catastrophes which were beyond imagination. I'm willing to bet that there were 1000s of people who died in the concentration camps who thought it wasn't necessary to leave Germany. Fall of Roman Empire, Russian revolution of 1917, collapse of Soviet Union, many wars etc. etc.

We might be at such a point now, who can tell. But those who are making an attempt to protect themselves, and perhaps even, gasp, pointing out that the Icelandic banking system doesn't exactly look very solid at the moment, can hardly be accused of 'scaremongering'. I've got a lot of money in Kaupthing, and I'm scared. They liabilities of many banks are many times more than the deposits they hold.

If there is a large scale, universal banking collapse, I'm not atall sure that all the various deposit protection schemes are really going to be worth anything.

bazster

funkey_monkey wrote: »

If the Icelandic govn can't pay the €20,000 then it is in an agreement with other Nordic countries which will step in to cover it.

I'm sure that people will be very reassured by the prospect that they might have to chase their money not only to Iceland but also all around the North Sea and the Baltic.

BACKFRMTHEEDGE

KTF wrote: »

A debate is fine but when people continually post misinformation that causes more people to panic that isnt helpful one bit.

Look at all the threads going on about the same thing. People have withdrawn rather than transferred ISAs, etc as a result. I doubt they are going to get the opportunity to rescind that decision like they did with Northern Rock...

If the regular posters on this board had "got real" and allowed a real discussion to develop then many people would not be in the mess they are in. They would have made a more informed decision to either leave their money in an icelandic bank or withdraw it in a considered maner. The continous mantra that "all is well - go away nasty doom mongers" has done no one any favours IMHO:rolleyes:

taxi73

Landsbanki has just gone into receivership..sky news

gax23

mikeymo wrote: »

At times in the history of humankind there have been massive catastrophes which were beyond imagination. I'm willing to bet that there were 1000s of people who died in the concentration camps who thought it wasn't necessary to leave Germany. Fall of Roman Empire, Russian revolution of 1917, collapse of Soviet Union, many wars etc. etc.

That's quite a stark comparison, but I agree with your point. What people refer to as 'scaremongering' is not going to do anyone any harm. Telling them everything is fine, when it is far from fine, is very dangerous and irresponsible.