Lost money through Icesave?

jollybabe

Icesave was not authorised by FSA, but rather opted to be part of the Top Up scheme run by the FSCS eligble to European Economic Area banks operating branches within the UK. If it was authorised by the FSA, the full £50K would have been covered by the UK Government, as essentially they had the same status as a UK bank. All EEA countries must provide a minimum 20,000 Euro deposit guaranteed - and then banks can opt to be part of the Top Up(passport) scheme. If the relevant Government (e.g. Ireland) guarantees more than the FSCS (i.e. more than 50k) then the entire claim would go through the relevant Government.

FSCS covers firms authorised by the FSA. A list of the banks authorised by the FSA can be found on the FSA website. If a UK bank is not listed on the FSA site, it is likely to fall under a group authorisation. A group authorisation can be issued to cover a collection of banks as long as they are owned by the same parent company. FSCS may also be able to help if you have an account with a UK branch of bank incorporated in another European Economic Area (EEA) state.

4. What is the position of people who have an account with a UK branch of European bank?

If you have an account with a UK branch of a bank incorporated in the European Economic Area (EEA) that becomes insolvent, we may also be able to help. Under the EU Deposit Guarantee Schemes Directive, all member states of the EEA are required to establish a deposit guarantee scheme which gives a minimum level of protection for depositors of 20,000 Euros per eligible depositor in the event of a bank failure.
A bank established in another EEA state should be a member of that state's compensation scheme, which is designed to protect depositors in that EEA country, and those with accounts at branches in other EEA countries. Where the bank's home state scheme provides a lower limit of compensation than FSCS (i.e. less than 100% of £50,000), or the scope of protection is less than FSCS's, the bank may choose to join FSCS to 'top up' the level of protection offered by the home state scheme. The link below leads to a list of banks that have topped up into the UK Scheme with their FSA reference numbers and the month and year FSCS or the predecessor scheme accepted their application to top up.
In the event of a failure of one of these banks, there would be a two step process as the home state scheme would have lead responsibility for claims, and would be responsible for paying the first part of any compensation. FSCS is only responsible for paying compensation for the topped up element to £50,000 on deposits with the UK branch. FSCS would, wherever possible, try to assist claimants in their dealings with the home state scheme (for example, by putting them in contact with the home state scheme, or helping them understand the process that the home state scheme will follow). FSCS would then deal with any 'top up' claims.

http://www.fscs.org.uk/consumer/How_to_Claim/Deposits/EEA_firms_that_have_topped_up/

Useful link listing the banks that are part of the Top Up Scheme (should anyone wish to check!)

misskool

Hi, Martin’s asked me to post this in these circumstances: I’ve asked Board Guides to move threads if they’ll receive a better response elsewhere (please see this rule) so this post/thread has been moved to the savings and investments board, where it should get more replies. If you have any questions about this policy please email abuse@moneysavingexpert.com.

PayDay

neverdespairgirl wrote: »

Which doesn't help if you have a fixed-rate bond from longer ago than that, does it?

It would have helped if you had done your research before investing. A quick google search would have done. Iceland...few inhabitants....economy heavily based on banking.

When something looks to good to be true, it usually is.