Birmingham Midshires - which account?

josejones

Im just looking on the Birmingham Midshires website. I need to have an account with a fixed rate and that I dont need to get at my money for less than a year. The account needs to let me pay money in as-and-when I have money to pay in. Ive looked at Martins review on fixed rate accounts and have settled with BM. (I dont like the risk of ICICI or AngloIrish. I dont mind losing out a few fractions of a percent for peace of mind).
There seems to be 2 kinds of fixed accounts with BM - monthly and yearly. Which one would be better? Has anyone else opened an account with them? How quick is it to do, I want to do this urgently so they dont get a chance to drop their interest rate.

stevetodd

josejones wrote: »

I dont like the risk of ICICI or AngloIrish.

I was unaware that there was a significant risk to Anglo Irish. I am just opening an account with them, what have I missed?

Icesaver

stevetodd wrote: »

I was unaware that there was a significant risk to Anglo Irish. I am just opening an account with them, what have I missed?

They operate under the same passport scheme as Icesave. Some people are put off by such schemes and will now only go for 100% UK compensation scheme.

I know Ireland is guaranteeing 100% of deposits there, but we could be in same state if Ireland does an Iceland and looks after it's own investors before us foreigners.

Having said that I still have a small amount in ING who again use the passport scheme but I still manage to sleep at nights

KingL

josejones wrote: »

Im just looking on the Birmingham Midshires website. I need to have an account with a fixed rate and that I dont need to get at my money for less than a year. The account needs to let me pay money in as-and-when I have money to pay in. Ive looked at Martins review on fixed rate accounts and have settled with BM. (I dont like the risk of ICICI or AngloIrish. I dont mind losing out a few fractions of a percent for peace of mind).
There seems to be 2 kinds of fixed accounts with BM - monthly and yearly. Which one would be better? Has anyone else opened an account with them? How quick is it to do, I want to do this urgently so they dont get a chance to drop their interest rate.

Generally speaking you won't be able to add funds 'as-and-when' with a BM fixed term account. When they decide they want to reduce interest rates they will just stop offering a particular fixed term account. After that point, you will keep your account and your rate, but won't be able to add any further funds to it.

If you want to add funds ad-hoc, you would have to go for a BM variable rate account, like the internet saver. The monthly/yearly thing is just about when the account pays interest.

stevetodd

Icesaver wrote: »

They operate under the same passport scheme as Icesave. Some people are put off by such schemes and will now only go for 100% UK compensation scheme.

I know Ireland is guaranteeing 100% of deposits there, but we could be in same state if Ireland does an Iceland and looks after it's own investors before us foreigners.

Having said that I still have a small amount in ING who again use the passport scheme but I still manage to sleep at nights

But I thought that they were also part of the UK scheme as well, have I misunderstood the wording:

1. How are my deposits protected?
All UK deposits at Anglo Irish Bank benefit from protection under two deposit protection schemes; the Irish Deposit Protection Scheme and the UK Financial Services Compensation Scheme. Most banks regulated in the UK and Ireland are protected by either or both of these compensation schemes.
Our customers receive protection through the Irish Deposit Protection scheme up to €100,000 per individual depositor per bank.
Anglo Irish Bank Corporation plc is authorised by the Financial Regulator in Ireland and by the Financial Services Authority; regulated by the Financial Services Authority for the conduct of UK business. We also subscribe to the Banking Code and copies of the code are available on request, or from the BBA website. We are also members of both the Irish Deposit Protection Scheme and the UK Financial Services Compensation Scheme.

EDIT:
However on this site, this is stated:
Anglo Irish Bank 7.05% AER. Safety relies on the Irish Government.

The next best rate is with Anglo Irish Bank, which pays 7.05% on all balances over £500, and can be operated by post or phone. This, however, is NOT protected by the UK scheme, but the Irish protection scheme, which covers an unlimited amount of savings until 2010. Therefore you are relying on the solidity of Ireland for the protection of your cash. See the foreign banks section of our Savings Safety guide.

Does anyone know which is the correct statement?

Baldur

stevetodd wrote: »

Does anyone know which is the correct statement?

Rather than look at either site, check out the FSA Register at http://www.fsa.gov.uk/register/firmMainSearch.do

This shows that Anglo Irish is EEA authorised, so falls under the Irish scheme.

Swipe

Yep you can't add extra funds to a BM fixed rate account.

captainkevos

stevetodd wrote: »

But I thought that they were also part of the UK scheme as well, have I misunderstood the wording:

1. How are my deposits protected?
All UK deposits at Anglo Irish Bank benefit from protection under two deposit protection schemes; the Irish Deposit Protection Scheme and the UK Financial Services Compensation Scheme. Most banks regulated in the UK and Ireland are protected by either or both of these compensation schemes.
Our customers receive protection through the Irish Deposit Protection scheme up to €100,000 per individual depositor per bank.
Anglo Irish Bank Corporation plc is authorised by the Financial Regulator in Ireland and by the Financial Services Authority; regulated by the Financial Services Authority for the conduct of UK business. We also subscribe to the Banking Code and copies of the code are available on request, or from the BBA website. We are also members of both the Irish Deposit Protection Scheme and the UK Financial Services Compensation Scheme.

EDIT:
However on this site, this is stated:
Anglo Irish Bank 7.05% AER. Safety relies on the Irish Government.

The next best rate is with Anglo Irish Bank, which pays 7.05% on all balances over £500, and can be operated by post or phone. This, however, is NOT protected by the UK scheme, but the Irish protection scheme, which covers an unlimited amount of savings until 2010. Therefore you are relying on the solidity of Ireland for the protection of your cash. See the foreign banks section of our Savings Safety guide.

Does anyone know which is the correct statement?

AIB is a Member of both schemes (a kind of belt-and-braces thing). If Ireland "Done an Icesave" on us, then the FSCS would have to kick in, I'm sure of that. (I have money frozen in Icesave and I have a AIB Fixed Rate Bond !!)

I suspect Martin may need to update the Foreign banks section, as I was taken to the Irish DPS from Anglo Irish Bank website via this link (the compensation is not "unlimited until 2010" under this scheme):

http://www.itsyourmoney.ie/index.jsp?1nID=93&2nID=96&pID=145&nID=385&aID=0#deposit

The 7.05% AER return is also no longer available (sadly). If in doubt, give one of those lovely ladies at Anglo Irish a call...

opinions4u

Swipe wrote: »

Yep you can't add extra funds to a BM fixed rate account.

Almost accurate:

http://www.askbm.co.uk/savings/t/fixed/product.asp?id=110&p=terms

Point 5 is the key:

"You can make further deposits into your account, providing the issue is still open."

These issues do seem to come and go regularly, so it's a case of make an initial deposit and make any subsequent deposits very quickly.

Squibbler

But I thought that they were also part of the UK scheme as well, have I misunderstood the wording:

1. How are my deposits protected?
All UK deposits at Anglo Irish Bank benefit from protection under two deposit protection schemes; the Irish Deposit Protection Scheme and the UK Financial Services Compensation Scheme. Most banks regulated in the UK and Ireland are protected by either or both of these compensation schemes.
Our customers receive protection through the Irish Deposit Protection scheme up to €100,000 per individual depositor per bank.
Anglo Irish Bank Corporation plc is authorised by the Financial Regulator in Ireland and by the Financial Services Authority; regulated by the Financial Services Authority for the conduct of UK business. We also subscribe to the Banking Code and copies of the code are available on request, or from the BBA website. We are also members of both the Irish Deposit Protection Scheme and the UK Financial Services Compensation Scheme.

EDIT:
However on this site, this is stated:
Anglo Irish Bank 7.05% AER. Safety relies on the Irish Government.

The next best rate is with Anglo Irish Bank, which pays 7.05% on all balances over £500, and can be operated by post or phone. This, however, is NOT protected by the UK scheme, but the Irish protection scheme, which covers an unlimited amount of savings until 2010. Therefore you are relying on the solidity of Ireland for the protection of your cash. See the foreign banks section of our Savings Safety guide.

Does anyone know which is the correct statement?

captainkevos wrote: »

AIB is a Member of both schemes (a kind of belt-and-braces thing). If Ireland "Done an Icesave" on us, then the FSCS would have to kick in, I'm sure of that. (I have money frozen in Icesave and I have a AIB Fixed Rate Bond !!)

I suspect Martin may need to update the Foreign banks section, as I was taken to the Irish DPS from Anglo Irish Bank website via this link (the compensation is not "unlimited until 2010" under this scheme):

http://www.itsyourmoney.ie/index.jsp?1nID=93&2nID=96&pID=145&nID=385&aID=0#deposit

The 7.05% AER return is also no longer available (sadly). If in doubt, give one of those lovely ladies at Anglo Irish a call...

My understanding is that the FSCS operates a top up system where passport system is in use. If Anglo-Irish's Irish cover was still a lower value than the FSCS 50K cover, then the FSCS would pay the difference. However, since Ireland raised their cover to 100% recently, there is no guaranteed top-up by the FSCS. If AI and if then Ireland went under and defaulted on their guarantee, we would have to rely on the UK Government making a special decision as in the case of Icesave for people to be covered. Not at all guaranteed but certainly plausible.