FSCS/Icesave EMAIL WINNERS?

NonGeographicalMan

ilovemanu wrote: »

To go on about missing interest from the 7 October in my eyes is just plain greedy. I think the FSCS are doing a great job in the circumstances.

And would you think the same thing if you turn out to be one of the unlucky ones who closed their accounts with Icesave but the money never got to you and the FSCS demands proof you ever had money there and it takes months to sort out.

The point is that the cost to the government of covering the interest up to payout date by the FSCS (even then a few days are lost by the ripoff three days most banks still take to do a BACS transfer) is less than 1% extra and without doing so it remains untrue that Icesave investors have not lost out financially due to the collapse of this bank as Alistair Darling has claimed.

Anyone who had more than £35,000 invested with Icesave is not in a position to complain but those with up to £35,000 invested were led to believe our money was fully protected by the FSCS whereas clearly it is not as we are suffering a loss of inteerst while there is a delay in paying out.

I do not use the figure of £50,000 as no Icesave investor on October 7th expected their money would be covered for that amount at the time they placed their money with Icesave.

bryanb

Nongoeman,
My point was, and still is that Icesave accounts were never claimed to be fully covered by FSCS either by themselves or anyone else. They were in the passport scheme, that information was freely available on their website, and via the FSCS. My only point in replying to your posts was to point that out.
I notice that you are still saying in post 213 that people were led to believe they were fully protected by FSCS. If this is true please state where they were led to believe this rather than calling people names.

NonGeographicalMan

bryanb wrote: »

I notice that you are still saying in post 213 that people were led to believe they were fully protected by FSCS. If this is true please state where they were led to believe this rather than calling people names.

It was stated in the articles written by various journalists in early 2007, including Martin Lewis who owns this website. It was clearly stated in those articles that Icesave was fully covered up to £35,000 compensation like other UK deposit takers. There was no mention of the Passport scheme and relying on Iceland for the first £15,000 at that time. That only seems to have started in April 2008 perhaps when some concerns about the Icelandic economy viz the banking crisis began. Unfortunately that was over a year after I deposited with Icesave and my eye was not on the Icesave ball at that stage as I was busy with other things. When I deposited originally Icesave looked totally secure.

I didn't wade through pages of type 2 font of Iceave terms & conditions but I did follow what the national press and people like Martin Lewis were saying and they all said depositors in Icesave had their money covered up to £35,000 the same as other UK deposit accounts.

Icesave's staff in Newcastle were liars because when I spoke to their customer service line in Newcastle in 2007 their staff said if you were worried about the £35,000 compensation limit all you needed to do was open further accounts with no more than £35,000 in each one and they didn't mention the Passport business. They suggested that one of their customers had opened 10 Icesave Instant Access accounts for that very reason. I knew that was untrue but I thought that was just staff in a call centre being stupid. At no time was it ever put up front by Icesave in any marketing literature when I originally invested that around 3/7th of the total compensation scheme amount was subject to a different compensation scheme run by the Icelandic government and that the FSCS only cut in after that. My understanding was that it was like buying electrical goods from a Chinese supplier in Britain from a legitimate source. That is they still have to comply with British rules and safety standards.

You may say you knew different but I would suggest most people who invested in Icesave didn't and that Icesave deliberately hid it because if most people had known about the inferior compensation arrangements and relying on the compensation scheme of a nation with only 300,000 citizens they would have thought twice and not deposited their money with Icesave. It is clear Icesave were conmen in terms of their selling methods. But the FSA let this happen as they were selling in the UK through UK newspapers with full FSA regulatory approval. That is why the government is now picking up the full tab (apart from the interest after October 7th). Would the FSA have let an Iraqui or a Syrian bank market in the UK in the way Icesave did - no of course they would not. Icesave abused the priviliges of being in the wider European Economic Area to deliberately missell the product and its protective features. Again the government knows that whic is why it feels it has to step in and pick up the tab.

oldfella

It was stated in the articles written by various journalists in early 2007, including Martin Lewis who owns this website. It was clearly stated in those articles that Icesave was fully covered up to £35,000 compensation like other UK deposit takers. There was no mention of the Passport scheme and relying on Iceland for the first £15,000 at that time. That only seems to have started in April 2008 perhaps when some concerns about the Icelandic economy viz the banking crisis began.

---

this is also how I remember it - when I opened my fixed rate account in 2007 it just said savings protected up to 35K - the info about the passport scheme only emerged later in 2008. I remember thinking "OMG" when I learned about it, by which time it was too late to do anything about the deposit.

bryanb

Nongeoman,
Thanks for explaining things from your viewpoint, I now have a better understanding of where you're coming from.
I was one of those (sad) people who waded through the T&C's when I opened my accounts, around the same time as you. I enquired from FSCS whether they would cover up to 20000 euro if the passport scheme failed but got no satisfactory answer.
I went ahead in spite of this with 1,2, &3 year fixes. My wife did the same but she foolishly left too much in her easy access. Her total investment is £7000 above the (£35000) limit. In view of this we are extremely grateful to the FSCS/Treasury/Govt. for extending the limit to £50000. So you can appreciate our view that the financial authorities are doing a good job.
Sorry if my posts have come accross as unsympathetic, but behind every post is a different story and a poster with their own situation uppermost in their mind.

LGG_2

as has anyone had their second email yet seeing as the thread is filled up with pointless arguments.

bryanb

LGG wrote: »

as has anyone had their second email yet seeing as the thread is filled up with pointless arguments.

Not expected yet, what may seem pointless to you could be important to others, but of course you can choose not to read the discussions.

SarahNeedle1872

Finally got mine today, but only after following the instructions on the FSCS site to get it...... Hope we don't all get as much hassle getting the important one!

bowlesbargain

I have had the fist E Mail. The FSCS will carry over the account into a fixed interest account. I have three years for mine to run. I cannot get 7% out on the high Street. Who will the FSCS transfer the money to. Will it be safe. Is is best to carry over the fund to a fixed rate as suggested by the FSCS.

bryanb

bowlesbargain wrote: »

I have had the fist E Mail. The FSCS will carry over the account into a fixed interest account. I have three years for mine to run. I cannot get 7% out on the high Street. Who will the FSCS transfer the money to. Will it be safe. Is is best to carry over the fund to a fixed rate as suggested by the FSCS.

I believe the FSCS are saying that for fixed term accounts they will pay capital and full interest at maturity. Also they say that the money will not be placed with any institution but will be paid as compensation (by them)
Edited to add- There is no opportunity to "carry over to fixed rate" The fixed rate option only applies if you already have a fixed term account.