My Dad needs to know.....

garys_missus

Hi all, appoligies if this is not in the right place. Basically my Mum & Dad have their money invested in a plan which pays them a certain amount each month. It was Scottish Widows, but was bought by La Mondial, the account is held in Luxembourg. He wanted me to find out what the banking laws are in Luxembourg and whether he should change from a joint account with mum or split it into two accounts. I have tried finding out, but am unable to, perhaps I'm looking in the wrong place. He's of the old school and doesn't have any computer knowledge, so it has fallen on me to fact find, and I'm not doing very well! Thanks in advance.

Baldur

The La Mondiale website http://www.lamondialeeuropartner.lu/wppub/en/FR/homepage.html gives some details.

garys_missus

Thanks Baldur, that was the site that I was looking for but unable to find. As they are covered by the FSA in the UK, does that mean that my parents are covered up to the £35,000 thresh hold? Should I recommend that they split the account into two? Thanks.

fullstop

garys_missus wrote: »

Thanks Baldur, that was the site that I was looking for but unable to find. As they are covered by the FSA in the UK, does that mean that my parents are covered up to the £35,000 thresh hold? Should I recommend that they split the account into two? Thanks.

The FSA limit is now £50.000 , so if they have more than100K it would be wise to split .

cos69

garys_missus wrote: »

Thanks Baldur, that was the site that I was looking for but unable to find. As they are covered by the FSA in the UK, does that mean that my parents are covered up to the £35,000 thresh hold? Should I recommend that they split the account into two? Thanks.

This looks as if the money might be held in an "off shore" account - you need to clarify that.

If it is off-shore, then the UK government/FSA will not cover it as many people with Icelandic off-shore account have discovered - lost the lot. So confirm whether its an off shore account. :eek:

Baldur

garys_missus wrote: »

As they are covered by the FSA in the UK.....

They aren't authorised by the FSA, see FSA Register HERE but are EEA authorised - see HERE.

If you are thinking of the £50,000 per depositor cover by the FSCS, this would not appear to apply.

garys_missus

Hi all, and thanks for your swift replys. Yes it is an off shore account. So it would appear from what you are saying that they are in dodgy waters? I don't want to tell him to move his money or split it unless it's really necessary, but I guess that if their money IS at risk then I'd better tell him. I don't suppose that it would still be covered in any way by Scottish Widows? Who could I get him to talk to that could clarify this issue for him. I'm guessing that he would get a biased reply from the company. He has all his marbles, but isn't in the first flush of youth! Also, they don't live in England anymore. x

Baldur

From your mention of Scottish Widows, this is an investment product rather than a savings product? The FSCS in the UK has different cover for investments, insurance products and savings, so presumably the Luxembourg/EEA equivalents will be different as well.

dunstonh

If it is an offshore investment bond then it gets the protection that is in place in the country it is held. There is no FSCS protection on offshore bonds.

EdInvestor

You really need to find out where the underlying funds are deposited.

Offshore bondholders of various UK insurance companies have lost money which was deposited offshore at Kaupthing Singer and Friedlander.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/money/investment/article4925885.ece

This kind of investment can fall down the crack, as the protection afforded to the product provider is not relevant and the account itself may not be protected at the underlying bank if it is in the name of the bond provider rather than the individual investor.

garys_missus

Just to finish off, thanks again for all your helpfull advice. I have passed all of this on to my Dad, and have given my opinion that he would probably be better off re: peace of mind, taking his money and putting it in a UK bank. So from him also, Thank you.