Saving with the Post Office

Chloesmum

Hello-I have some money which I was about to put in Post Office savings as the rate is good (as per MSE) but I am now hesitating, with all this Irish banking stuff going on will it be safe to do this.
Please note this is an unexpected windfall and I am new to having some money!!! Thanks for any advice.

bandana999

PO savings is now covered by UK FSCS protection up to £50,000, and the UK FSCS protection limit will rise on 31 December 2010 from £50,000 to £85,000.
Have you read this?
http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/savings/safe-savings

ChiefGrasscutter

No, They haven't
It's far easier to ask a question and get someone else to do the work rather than actually do some research themselves first - as that requires "effort" on their behalf.

Ken68

Welcome to the board Chloesmum. Enjoy.

Loughton_Monkey

Just keep within £85K per institution. Very little more to worry about.

Think about a headline such as "Post Office Savings goes Bust. FSCS fails to operate. British Government Will not bail out. Millions of savers and pensioners lose life savings for ever......."

Now think of what surrounding scenario would be necessary for this headline to appear. You would have to be thinking of global financial/social meltdown, nuclear war, world famine etc. Probably we would be more concerned with survival rather than our savings.

In other words, get real, or simply put your £5 notes under the mattress.

flying_finish

I would not be concerned that you will lose your money due to banks going bust, but would think twice before using the Post Office due to the incompetence of their customer service and unreliability of their web site - I speak from recent experience!

soulsaver

flying_finish wrote: »

I would not be concerned that you will lose your money due to banks going bust, but would think twice before using the Post Office due to the incompetence of their customer service and unreliability of their web site - I speak from recent experience!

Oh that is an awful experience - however many people elsewhere on MSE have stated that they've had no problems. I opened an account with them just the other day; as easy a set up as I've ever come across online. And I have accounts with many providers. I hope you are sorted now.

paul1964_2

Tried to open an online saver account, but their system couldn't verify my ID online and presented me with a form to print and complete. I sent this off on the same day along with the relevant ID and a cheque from my current account. This was nearly 3 weeks ago.

Have heard nothing from them and the cheque has not been processed, so I phoned them today to be told that the account had not yet been opened; that this can take over 2 weeks and that they could not give me any idea when my account would be opened.

Have given up. If this is an example of the service they provide, I don't really want to be a customer.

niro_111

i did this just over three weeks ago, had a letter today saying cant open your account, due to the id being verfied at the post office, so i phoned them and told them to forget it,

paul1964_2

niro_111 wrote: »

i did this just over three weeks ago, had a letter today saying cant open your account, due to the id being verfied at the post office, so i phoned them and told them to forget it,

Maybe this explains the delay with them opening my account. Before I sent my ID, I phoned customer services and asked whether I could have my ID verified at the post office.

I was told that I could, but only at larger post offices. They even asked for my postcode and informed me of the nearest branch I could go to!

carrottsforlunch

Opened an account with them on the 18th of november and still can not deposit any money into it , i have recieved my user id and pin number . Rung up the helpline and they have no record of any deposit attempts and mentioned something about 14 days :huh: . I think i will put my £25k somewhere else :wave:.