carpetbagging is it still worth it

claire07

I've kept some of the bigger ones, i.e. Nationwide, Coventry, Yorkshire plus a few others like National Counties but they were all offering good rates. I've slowly got rid of the tiddlers. I kept them too long as, like OP, I was convinced the minute I got rid they would be taken over. The defining moment for me was when Cambridge BS opened their accounts to non locals and I didn't go for it!

jimjames

If you already have the accounts then probably worth keeping them. I wouldn't make the effort to open new accounts just on the prospect of a windfall.

StephenM_2

kevin52 wrote: »

I got shares in Bradford & Bingley and Halifax, and a fat lot of good that did me.:(

I did ok. Got shares in the Halifax through my mortgage. Sold them early on and used the proceeds to open a B&B account. Then got B&B shares and also sold them early on.

Had a Nationwide account for ages, but I've closed it now.

lulu999

I've still got just over a £100 left in Nationwide, Skipton, Chelsea & Yorkshire (all pre 1997). I know Chelsea and Yorkshire have merged.
They're all paying lousy rates, but £100 in each, who really cares?
There may (and I agree very slim) be something one day, but at the moment it's not worth the shoe leather to do anything about them.

PS I kept the shares from Woolwich, National & Provincial, Bradford & Bingley, Halifax, Leeds, Alliance & Leicester, which are of course now worth about as much as a large skinny latte.

sabretoothtigger

Alliance & Leicester,

I remember they got taken over by Santander. Shares went up that day from like 250 to 350. Not sure what they were at the peak but could be worse.
Woolich turned into Barc shares I think also not so bad. not great either

lulu999

They've all been condensed (those that survived) into Barclays, Santander and Lloyds shares.

Oh and if I remember correctly I think my Birmingham Midshires ended up as Lloyds preference shares.

They were all very nice freebies at the time but not much good if you don't get the other half of the equation right - when to sell.

Kernel_Sanders

jimjames wrote: »

Simple answer - no!

None of the BS mergers or takeovers recently have resulted in any payout for members.

Didn't Barnsley Building Society members gain anything when they were taken over?

steady__eddie

"Didn't Barnsley Building Society members gain anything when they were taken over?"

If my memory serves me correctly, (which it rarely does nowadays), no we didn't, except the opportunity to be members of the second largest Building Society and enjoy a substantially larger range of products. (Their words not mine).
There was talk however that if the Icelanders repay some of the funds that disappeared down the big black hole when they defaulted, there could be something in it for the members, (who were members prior to merger and still maintain an account), after the board have had their cut.
With the recent news that Iceland is repaying a few bob, it could be a possibility sometime this century, however I'm not holding my breath.

grey_gym_sock

DavidHayton wrote: »

I finally gave up hope when the members of the Kent Reliance Building Society practically gave their society away to JC Flowers.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kent_Reliance_Building_Society#Transfer_to_OneSavings
They did exactly as the directors told them to, despite there being no payout.

i voted against! it was actually a close vote, because they needed 75% of investing members in favour, and they only got just under 76%.

Froggitt

lulu999 wrote: »

I've still got just over a £100 left in Nationwide, Skipton, Chelsea & Yorkshire (all pre 1997). I know Chelsea and Yorkshire have merged.
They're all paying lousy rates, but £100 in each, who really cares?
There may (and I agree very slim) be something one day, but at the moment it's not worth the shoe leather to do anything about them.

PS I kept the shares from Woolwich, National & Provincial, Bradford & Bingley, Halifax, Leeds, Alliance & Leicester, which are of course now worth about as much as a large skinny latte.

I've recently completed my family debagging, closing around 100 accounts. It took them a hundred years to build up the reserves that were where the value was, a couple of years to destroy those reserves, and will take them another hundred years to build them up again to a point where there is any value.

PS I kept the shares from Woolwich, National & Provincial, Bradford & Bingley, Halifax, Leeds, Alliance & Leicester

Sold all of the above (or pocketed the cash) years ago (except Leeds which only turned into Halifax membership), plus Northern Rock at its height, Bristol and West, Birmingham Midshires and Portman - Mrs Frog also. Missed out on Cheltenham and Gloucester though.

There were also loads of trivial payouts, when one society tool over or bailed out another society.