are santander isa's protected by brit. gov't?

timmeroo

I have been informed today that it might be a good idea to get any monies I have in santander, out. Last yr I took out a 2 yr Fixed Postal ISA. I just wondered how safe and protected this money is by the Brit Gov't. After all, this is a large Spanish Bank from a very financially depleted country which seemed to be on the crest of a buying wave when everyones elses ship was sinking? Should I be thinking of getting out of it and what would be my penalty for early withdrawal? Please advise.

Oh stuff, I now realise this should be in the savings section - sorry!

Baldur

Deposits in Santander are protected up to £85,000 per individual by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme, in just the same way as any other UK bank.

See http://www.santander.co.uk/csgs/Satellite?pagename=Abbeycom/GSPageDetail/WC_ACOM_PrintA&canal=CABBEYCOM&empr=Abbeycom&leng=en_GB&cid=1237843950925

timmeroo

ok thanks for that but, are deposits the same as investments which, presumably, is what an ISA is?

Baldur

timmeroo wrote: »

ok thanks for that but, are deposits the same as investments which, presumably, is what an ISA is?

Cash ISAs (which is what you have) are deposits, Stocks & Shares ISAs contain investments.

timmeroo

Once again Baldur, my thanks. In the interests of correctness I have also repeated this in the relevant Tax Free ISA dept. For some inexplicable reason I thought my 2yrFRPI was a Stocks & Shares ISAs - prob because it had accumulated quite a bit when it first started out as a 5yr Loyalty FR Tessa/ISA with the BBBs and then stood around in a holding pen for 18mths while I got over the shock of losing my BBB shares. Thanks again.

Baldur

timmeroo wrote: »

Once again Baldur, my thanks. In the interests of correctness I have also repeated this in the relevant Tax Free ISA dept. For some inexplicable reason I thought my 2yrFRPI was a Stocks & Shares ISAs - prob because it had accumulated quite a bit when it first started out as a 5yr Loyalty FR Tessa/ISA with the BBBs and then stood around in a holding pen for 18mths while I got over the shock of losing my BBB shares. Thanks again.

PEPs converted into S&S ISAs, TESSAs converted into Cash ISAs.

timmeroo

oh how little I know. I sometimes wonder why I play with this stuff when perhaps I'd be better off with a basic savings bank a/c earning !!!!!! all interest!! - at least I would know where all my money is. As it is I have other investments that are somewhat beyond me - just relied on my bank financial advisor to sort it out for me.
Don't 'spose I'm the only one in the world who has lost the plot!!

Baldur

timmeroo wrote: »

oh how little I know. I sometimes wonder why I play with this stuff when perhaps I'd be better off with a basic savings bank a/c earning !!!!!! all interest!! - at least I would know where all my money is. As it is I have other investments that are somewhat beyond me - just relied on my bank financial advisor to sort it out for me.
Don't 'spose I'm the only one in the world who has lost the plot!!

A Cash ISA is basically a basic savings account, just a tax-free one with certain limitations on the amount that you can deposit per tax year and method of transfer to different providers.

Bank [STRIKE]salespeople[/STRIKE] 'financial advisers' aren't the best people to allow to 'sort out' financial matters for you - expensive & limited range of products.

timmeroo

Too True, too true - well thanks Baldur, I think I'll leave it there for now. At least I will sleep a bit easier tonight.

ses6jwg

I think if a bank as big and far reaching as Santander went down I'd be more worried about investing in guns, beans, gold and lots of ammunition.