NI Presbyterian mutual society, Short of funds for withdrawal?

warmhands.coldheart

Just tried to sign petition on behalf of others and seems that you can't use the same e-mail address more than once... crap if your parents or other "elderly" folk you know caught up in this don't have an e-mail address..

MamaMia_2

WarmHands.ColdHeart - well spotted with the petition on the news letter site. I've just checked out the rules for signing this e-petition and unfortuneately 1 signature per email address:
'More than one person shares my email address — can we sign the petition?
I'm afraid that there is a trade-off to be made between allowing anyone to sign the petitions regardless of having an email address, and protecting the petitions from too much abuse. We have come down on the side of using one email address per person to act as an anti-abuse mechanism because it is now possible for anyone to get an email address for free in a few moments. On the converse, if we let people use one address to sign multiple times we will likely see considerable fake signatures almost straight away. '

How easy is it to set up an email address for all of the family/friends we know who want to sign but don't have an address? (Sorry another question into the mix).

crazymess

Whilst the Newsletter petition is wonderful:

http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/save-the-mutuals/

Please add you name:

This is the main one to Government re MUTUALS GENERALLY

We need our own two petitions -

1. FOR THE PCI

2. Government

joylikes2shop

PMS shareholders told to 'knuckle down'





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Published Date: 16 January 2009



By Staff reporter


SHAREHOLDERS in the Presbyterian Mutual Society should knuckle down and wait for the property market and economy to recover in order to maximise their returns, it has been suggested.
The opinion came from another professional in the same job as the current administrator of the Presbyterian Mutual Society.

The insolvency practitioner (IP), who declined to be named, said that an administration process normally lasts no longer than 15 months but that this could not be taken as a guide for the PMS because it was "such an unusual case" with some 9,500 shareholders to deal with and exceptional economic conditions.

He also said Mr Boyd "had no choice" but to offer shareholders an orderly winding-down of the society to maximise their returns.

If shareholders reject this proposal, said the IP, a liquidator would take over. But such a person would have a very different agenda – "to sell the assets and get out".

However, even shareholders who would prefer a lesser sum of money more quickly might not get much advantage out of liquidation, he said; there is currently no market for selling property, which the PMS has the majority of its money in, so even liquidation could go on "for six months or two years".





The full article contains 213 words and appears in News Letter newspaper.

http://www.newsletter.co.uk/news/PMS-shareholders-told-to-knuckle.4883457.jp

joylikes2shop

I'VE JUST SPOTTED THIS ANNOUNCEMENT AT THE TOP OF THE FORUMS PAGE, SO DON'T PANIC IF YOU CANT POST ANYTHING BETWEEN 11PM TONIGHT AND 1am TOMORROW !!

IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT!

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crazymess

Its all gone quiet!!

Hows everyone feeling now?

The other Petition has 79 names now.

purt

Folks, an online petition may only have a limited effect, if any. Can I suggest the following courses of action:

1. Write to your local MP. Explain your circumstances in the letter to them as regards your investments in the PMS. Conclude the letter by suggesting that they table a question in Parliament (NOT the Assembly). The more pressure exerted on politicians the less chance this will simply be swept under the carpet.

2. Write to the Moderator of the Presybterian Church. The more pressure exerted on them the better.

3. Dare I be so bold as to suggest that you picket the churches? A bold move requiring guts but one that would send out a signal to the Church. Local media outlets are always on the look out for a story at weekends as there's generally not much happening. A few PMS members with placards outside a church at the weekend would draw media attention (phone the local media outlets before you do it).

I've not been affected by the PMS debacle in any way but I feel for those that have. I notice today that Arlene Foster said the Treasury had a moral duty to help those caught up in this mess. It may do, but I believe the Church has an even greater moral duty to help its members.

There may only be a few of you on here but that's all it takes to make a difference. If others see you on TV, hear you on the radio, see your letters in the paper then they too may be inclined to join you in your protests. As support builds the Church might not be able to maintain its silence for very long.

Mark789

Haven't posted for a long time, but have been keeping track of the forum.

Very disappointed in what I believe has come out of the administrator's report, but have to rely on news articles and this forum as the full report has yet to be published on the PMU website - I'm hoping to receive my Mother's copy in the post tomorrow.

It certainly sounds as if directors/managers have been negligent and it may be worth while considering legal action. My only concern is the directors'/managers' ability to pay. To my mind, there is no point in spending a small fortune, and it will be a small fortune, to bankrupt a few individuals who are more likely to have been naive than malicious, to gain a moral victory and a few hundred thousand or even million pounds. What would be wonderful, but probably unlikely given how unprofessionally the PMU appears to have been run, would be if the directors have indemnity insurance. I know this is available, at a substantial premium, as I once worked for a small but dodgy company where "experienced/savvy" business people refused to take on directorships without this insurance.

In that case the opportunity to get serious compensation would be worth the risk of the legal fees.

Busily signing petitions online - parents not online so, sadly, 1 signature for 2 investors. I hope it all helps but I'm afraid I agree with the general feeling on the thread that as long as Labour votes/Gordon Brown's "world saviour" (in spite of him personally having been a major cause of current problems) role is not at risk, we have little hope of action.

MamaMia_2

My Dad still hasn't received the administrators report! I'm sure he isn't the only one.

At request of parents we have just setup email addresses for them both (they were quite excited to be on the w-w-w!). So easy to do, just went to yahoo.co.uk. We have used the new email addresses to sign the e-petition (here's the link again:http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/Save-the-Mutuals). Remember you can only sign once with each email address, hence the need to set one up for each of my folks.

So come on all you kids get your parents an email address and get signing this petition. ALL YOU GUYS AND GALS READING THIS THREAD PLEASE PLEASE SIGN TOO..... AND THEN ASK YOUR FRIENDS AND FAMILY TO SIGN.

Any news on the other petitions being setup?

ballyblack

above link not working properly its acknowledging receipt of petition

try again here;

http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/Save-the-Mutuals/