Notice To Martin On IceSave MD

1echidna

climbgirl wrote: »

I fall into the innocent category! I used to read the advice thoroughly but since starting a new job in March that has me working 14 hours days most days, I didn't keep up with things as well as I should have. A partner at my firm has money in there too, we were talking this morning and he said he simply doesn't have time to check these things constantly.

I don't blame anyone for not telling me to get out in time.

But I'd appreciate it if you stop pointing the finger at all of us. Yeah we might have missed the warnings, but that doesn't make us fools. And this constant blame game doesn't help anyone.

I agree with climbgirl, this constant blame game doesn't help anyone, nor does the xenophobic element. UK plc relies heavilly on doing financial business with the rest of the world and discriminating against foreign banks can just promote retaliation from the rest of the world to our cost. We have something of a grievance against Iceland but for God's sake lets deal with it in a rational, balanced, careful and fair way.

climbgirl

GeorgeHowell wrote: »

Sorry, but I thought the blame game was down to those trying to blame Martin (and yesterday Brown in case he didn't offer the guarantee). I am not blaming people for staying with Icesave, although they did not heed the fSA warning for whatever reason. They will get their money back, maybe with interest, maybe not. But they have had a lot of worry and angst and now may be faced with delays.

What I am saying is learn the lesson.

Anyone who stays with a foreign based bank now is asking for trouble. The higher interest rates may be attractive, and it may make some people feel like smart operators compared with the 'saddos' who rely on boring old places like Nationwide. But if it happens again who will be the real saddos ?

I agree and believe me, the lesson is well and truly learnt by me!

You keep calling the people who stayed "greedy rate-chasers" though and that just simply isn't the case (not always anyway). I opened the account well over a year ago, maybe two years now and yes, I chose it because it had a high-interest rate. There's nothing wrong with that! At the time, it was stable and I read that it was protected by the two schemes.

I am kicking myself now that I didn't keep up with the warnings as much as I should have. But that's just the way it is. Yesterday was dire, I wouldn't wish that feeling on anyone. Today, I almost cried with relief to learn that it would be ok.

I know you're trying to make us learn the lesson and that's great. But just don't call us greedy rate-chasers for staying. That isn't necessarily true and we're all in enough turmoil as it is right now!

ianmr65

slowepoke wrote: »

we cant blame anyone but at the same time we should be protected by the UK government. This is not Zimbabwe or India is it?

Yes you can. Blame the icelandic goverment, who enacted emergency legislation, nationalised their (arguably) strongest bank, shafted the shareholders, Directors, and overseas employees and pilligaed the depositors in the UK, and elswhere, to save their own skins. All in the space of 24 hours.

There were many solutions to this crisis, they opted for the the one that they felt would most likely save their nation, leaving the british taxpayers carrying the can.

climbgirl

George, I agree with you about the blaming of Martin etc, it just isn't cricket. It isn't anyone's fault that the accounts were recommended the way they were.

I do wonder if the FSA notices that there are problems with a bank (enough to issue a warning) if they couldn't/shouldn't take further action. But I think there will be lot of changes to the rules once the dust settles.

GeorgeHowell

climbgirl wrote: »

I agree and believe me, the lesson is well and truly learnt by me!

You keep calling the people who stayed "greedy rate-chasers" though and that just simply isn't the case (not always anyway). I opened the account well over a year ago, maybe two years now and yes, I chose it because it had a high-interest rate. There's nothing wrong with that! At the time, it was stable and I read that it was protected by the two schemes.

I am kicking myself now that I didn't keep up with the warnings as much as I should have. But that's just the way it is. Yesterday was dire, I wouldn't wish that feeling on anyone. Today, I almost cried with relief to learn that it would be ok.

I know you're trying to make us learn the lesson and that's great. But just don't call us greedy rate-chasers for staying. That isn't necessarily true and we're all in enough turmoil as it is right now!

I actually said that those blaming Martin were either dense in terms of not heeding the FSA warning, or what you term 'greedy rate chasers'. I myself was something of a greedy rate chaser until Northern Rock happened and I started taking a lot more interest in security of deposits etc. Frankly I made the remark because I was annoyed at people trying ti blame Martin Lewis for what could be thrown back at them as either their own dereliction or their own greed. The current climate shows that people have to think for themselves and to take advice from a number of sources, not just from one website. Anyone who does not want to, or cannot, do that would be best placed to put all their money in NS&I and not mess about trying to play the interest rates game at all.

dkmax_2

climbgirl wrote: »

I fall into the innocent category! I used to read the advice thoroughly but since starting a new job in March that has me working 14 hours days most days, I didn't keep up with things as well as I should have. A partner at my firm has money in there too, we were talking this morning and he said he simply doesn't have time to check these things constantly.

Let's look at the fundamentals.. Iceland has a population less than Bristol, with only cheap electricity and fish as substantive natural resources and is in the middle of the north Atlantic. Now, based on just those facts alone would you save with one of their domestic banks?

climbgirl

GeorgeHowell wrote: »

I actually said that those blaming Martin were either dense in terms of not heeding the FSA warning, or what you term 'greedy rate chasers'. I myself was something of a greedy rate chaser until Northern Rock happened and I started taking a lot more interest in security of deposits etc. Frankly I made the remark because I was annoyed at people trying ti blame Martin Lewis for what could be thrown back at them as either their own dereliction or their own greed. The current climate shows that people have to think for themselves and to take advice from a number of sources, not just from one website. Anyone who does not want to, or cannot, do that would be best placed to put all their money in NS&I and not mess about trying to play the interest rates game at all.

Again though, I'm not dense and I'm not a greedy rate chaser! I missed the FSA warning because I've been busy at work and just didn't keep up with the warnings. It's great that you clearly do follow the credit ratings of banks, FSA warnings etc. But not everybody does, rightly or wrongly. Sometimes you just miss them because other life stuff gets in the way. And I suspect the vast majority of us fall into this category.

I have learnt my lesson the hard way, believe me! And I will be damn sure to take a lot of care over where my money goes from now on in. I don't blame Martin or any other recommendation for putting Icesave on my radar. I love this site and it was the first place I turned for information yesterday. But please, stop judging us! I know you don't mean to and that you're trying to get across a valuable lesson but some of your posts come across that way.

GeorgeHowell

dkmax wrote: »

Let's look at the fundamentals.. Iceland has a population less than Bristol, with only cheap electricity and fish as substantive natural resources and is in the middle of the north Atlantic. Now, based on just those facts alone would you save with one of their domestic banks?

And now they're mortgaged up to their eyeballs to Putin. And yet they say there's no justice in the world !

climbgirl

dkmax wrote: »

Let's look at the fundamentals.. Iceland has a population less than Bristol, with only cheap electricity and fish as substantive natural resources and is in the middle of the north Atlantic. Now, based on just those facts alone would you save with one of their domestic banks?

Well the answer's clearly yes because I did! And so did many others, not all of them complete idiots.

Naive maybe, but I thought that the money I had in there was protected by two different schemes. It's only after everything went sour we learnt the scheme wasn't worth a thing.

Not every single person who holds a bank account can be expected to investigate the credit rating of a bank and of the country who is bound to fund any compensation schemes. I thought that any bank who gets and keeps a UK registration is already examined in this way!

GeorgeHowell

But didn't Norther Rock change everything, guys ? We were told then that this could be the tip of the iceberg (excuse pun). Others like B&B were mentioned as possibly dodgy. The FSCS, which hardly anyone had heard of, suddenly got visibility, and there was discussion about the adequacy of the £35,000 limit. Then it emerged -- initially in the Mail on Sunday I believe -- that the £35,000 limit might not be all it seemed in the case of at least some foreign-based banks. This was all fairly prominent in the media, both newspapers and TV/radio.

Neverthless, that's water under the bridge. But for goodness sake, anyone who is not just putting their money in NS&I and leaving it there forever must now realise that they do need to read the daily press, watch/listen to the news, make sure they do not exceed any compensation limits, and make sure they have accessible funds in more than one place in case something happens.

No excuses next time (let's hope there's not a next time, but I'm not holding my breath).