Will we see our Icesave cash before Christmas

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StarRover wrote: »

I'm probably not the first to say this but what is

The ideal candidate is, of course, Martin Lewis. Unfortunately when it matters he seems to have lost interest and gone AWOL having missed various opportunities this last week to keep the pressure on.

exactly I have being asking for Martins help last week as journalist and his media exposure but no response -where are you Martin???

cwcw

amistupid wrote: »

I'm not sure if this link has been posted on this thread yet,

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/moneybox/7677803.stm

Good Link.

I liked:


"Jonathan Clark, the FSCS's director of claims, told BBC Radio 4's Money Box he expected a pay-out in weeks rather than months.
Under EU law, financial services compensation schemes must pay out within three months unless there are wholly exceptional circumstances. "

SGE1

What I've found most irritating about all this, is that I've not (and so assume no other Icesave depositors have) receive any direct correspondence, via the post or via email, giving people a run-down of what we can expect. Having to visit the FSCS website every day to check whether they've bothered to post something up is irritating.

Given the fact that consumer confidence is their paramount concern, you would have thought that a quick email to every re-assuring them that they're working to sort things would be the best way not to antagonise things. Not communication from Icesave either, explaining their position.

If the reason we've not had any correspondence from the FSCS is because Icesave hasn't yet shared all the data on its customers with the FSCS, that's even more worrying. The gov't is currently pushing through the Banking Bill, which suggests that the FSCS should ensure payout, in a similar circumstance, within 7 days. Clearly they're not exactly close to this at the moment.

If, By Wednesday, I haven't heard anything more substantial than another ironic delaying statement such as "we're working to ensure payout as quickly as possible", I'm writing to the FSCS.

SGE1

meanmachine wrote: »

Trollfever, are you suggesting that Martin was PAID to recommend Icesave?

Hmm....

If true, the very VERY least he can do for us is support us in the media.

His silence is deafening...

Obviously this website makes money through click-throughs, and fair enough really. How else would the website be able to stay up otherwise? Or were you expecting Martin to provide time and effort, without actually earning a living?

Given some of the nauseating comments around these boards, I'm not surprised he's been quiet. Not exactly a nice validating feeling to have the very people you've tried to help, thrash out against you. He must have thought, well why the bl**dy hell you I bother then.

captainkevos

http://petitions.number10.gov.uk

meanmachine_2

SGE1 wrote: »

Obviously this website makes money through click-throughs, and fair enough really. How else would the website be able to stay up otherwise? Or were you expecting Martin to provide time and effort, without actually earning a living?

Given some of the nauseating comments around these boards, I'm not surprised he's been quiet. Not exactly a nice validating feeling to have the very people you've tried to help, thrash out against you. He must have thought, well why the bl**dy hell you I bother then.

Martin makes a living by appearing on tv.

I'm asking him to appear on TV.

Also, what exactly has he done to "help" me so far? Diddly, by the looks of it.

All I'm suggesting is that he helps us to ensure the Icesave matter doesn't get pushed into the "pending" file, and languishes there for months/years.

Blah99

Why is everyone complaining and rallying the troops for action? If the quote in the BBC article (linked above) are accurate, then everyone should just hold on and let the FSCS do their job.

The FSCS have an unprecedented amount of work to do with a vast sum of deposited cash. And whilst I totally understand people are desperate to know what is happening to their £5k, £25k, £50k or whatever they should all take comfort from two simple facts:

1. The Government has committed to refunding ALL of your Icesave deposits.
2. The following quote:

Jonathan Clark, the FSCS's director of claims, told BBC Radio 4's Money Box he expected a pay-out in weeks rather than months

I for one would prefer that the FSCS get on with the job of processing the refunds rather than spending lots of time with media announcements, website updates etc. Remember the proverb, "empty vessels make the most noise".

I have sympathy for everyone who has money tied up in Icesave - I personally have a 5 figure sum there - but we have a cast iron guarantee that we'll get our cash back. All we have to do is wait, because it will take as long as it takes. The FSCS and the Government are totally aware that people need the money they've saved to pay bills, pay taxes, buy Christmas gifts or whatever - they're not going deliberately slowly just to annoy everyone. As harsh as it sounds, if you had all your money in the Icesave basket you've just learned the hardest and most fundamental aspect of money management - diversify your risk. The FSCS can't MacGyver up a solution just for you, they have to treat everyone with equal priority.

I personally think further debate on the issue is just a waste of time. Give the FSCS the 3 months they are legally entitled to. If by then the compensation hasn't appeared, we all have every right to write to our MPs and make complaints.


Edit: Also, just to add, I'm not sure why people are calling on Martin to swoop down from the skies and make announcements. His earlier recommendations to use Icesave were perfectly valid at the time (I posted about this previously, have a look through my posts). He is not responsible for anyone's free choices, and there is nothing he can do now to help anyone anyway. Is he going to go on TV and call for all Icesave deposits to be guaranteed? No need, we have that. Is he going to call for accelerated payouts? No need, we've been told that's happening already.

I'm not a particularly big Martin-fan. I think some of his advice is dubious and misses basic logical facts, but his Icesave recommendation was perfectly good.

SGE1

meanmachine wrote: »

Martin makes a living by appearing on tv.

I'm asking him to appear on TV.

Also, what exactly has he done to "help" me so far? Diddly, by the looks of it.

All I'm suggesting is that he helps us to ensure the Icesave matter doesn't get pushed into the "pending" file, and languishes there for months/years.

There are a significant number of people looking for help on a variety of different issues, on these boards, he's only one man, so I think we should keep things in perspective. I agree with you in the sense that I wish he would help us, yes - but I can see there are reasons why he won't/can't/will get round to it, but only eventually.

Also, you seem to be suggesting that just because he might be earning a living via one means, he shouldn't be entitled to earn an income from anywhere else. Bit unreasonable really.

Finally, you've been on these boards a while I take it, I'm sure you've read all Martin's articles - yet you still claim that Martin has done "diddly" for you. Really? Seriously? Are you saying that his efforts have not made the slightest bit of difference to you? One would wonder why you still hang around in that case...

meanmachine_2

SGE1 wrote: »

Finally, you've been on these boards a while I take it, I'm sure you've read all Martin's articles - yet you still claim that Martin has done "diddly" for you. Really? Seriously? Are you saying that his efforts have not made the slightest bit of difference to you? One would wonder why you still hang around in that case...

Diddly in this regard.

But then, I've done diddly for him, so why should he help me?

I come to this site for the forum. I rarely read Martin's articles or tips.

Nothing against the guy. My interest has been in the property market. And all I remember Martin saying on that one is that "prices might go down, but who knows when?".

WotEverItTakes

autopetfeeder wrote: »

... now that the panic has subsided due to the sensible actions of our government I feel that there is no real discussion any more. It has degenerated into a platoon Dad's Army conscripts aiming to waste official's time by writing long winded letters to MPs.

The point is, we will have our money. This is despite the fact that the first 15K or so was not protected or guaranteed by our government. Icesave was a branch of a foreign bank. We chose to invest there and most of us are probably feeling relieved that we're getting our cash back.

What would be the point of embarrassing any organisation any further? Smacks of people with too much time on their hands biting the hand that feeds.

I don't see it the same way as you even though I'm in the same position of having a big chunk of my savings in Icesave and K-E. I never imagined that either of these institutions was that unsafe. Obviously, I realised that they have been paying interest at the top end of the range but I thought this was the result mainly of having slimline operations rather than carrying with it a significantly higher risk of default. Further, it's the job of the UK's regulators to check out the viability of these operators, and the vast majority of mere private savers can't possibly have access to the same information. OK the government has stepped in to sort out the mess on behalf of private savers, but it's really down to them that they didn't spot these two rogue outfits in the first place. You say that it's now all clear what's going to happen about refunds and we shouldn't bother worrying any further. I wish this was the case. For a start, I've been badly inconvenienced by Ing's failure to pay a bank transfer out of K-E which I arranged 10 days ago. The Ing operation was clearly not adequately staffed to handle the work they took on, and responsibility for this must be placed at the Government's door. With regard to Icesave, there has been a dearth of information coming out of the FSCS, and what we have now (10 das later) about timing and procedure is so vague that it's almost meaningless. As someone else observed, it's not clear why Icesave customers are being treated to this slow, second class treatment compared with Northern Rock, Bradford & Bingley and Kaupthing customers where there was almost immediate resolution. What if a big bank like HBOS folded up? Do you think customers would be satisfied with the kind of assurances that have been given by the FSCS on Icesave? No they'd want their money immediately, so why shouldn't we be treated the same?