How can we prepare ourselves for future banking disasters???

MoneySaverLog

Fiddlestick wrote: »

A couple of quid in interest is nothing compared to the fantastic customer service that I have received from First Direct.

You couldn't pay me to leave them.

That would not stop you from saving with someone who paid a better rate of interest though.

cottager

pqrdef wrote: »

People who pay wages might think about having a reserve arrangement with another bank.

I'd be interested to know what you had in mind, and in practical terms how it would operate.

Cate1976

I think some of the tips given posts in this thread about preparation for disasters have been obtained from websites aimed at advising people on how to be prepared for natural disasters. Some of them are useful for the situation many people have been in the last 7-10 days. It's certainly got me thinking about my finances and what would happen to us.

Current situation is:

HSBC: 3 accounts, 1 the money we get on a Monday goes into it, the 2nd is the one my husband's DLA goes into. The third is the flexi saver, theory is Child Benefit goes into it to save for things for the girls or things which will benefit them such as days out.
Santander: 2 accounts, 1 the money we get on a Thursday goes into, also will be getting the tax credits paid into it (the 123 a/c which gives money back on utility bills and supermarkets). The other is going to be used to transfer my husband's DLA into to 'save that' and transfer to the HSBC joint a/c when he needs it. He's not very good at managing money so has agreed to me doing this to help him.
Halifax: Effectively dead as I'm paying off overdraft on it at £5 week.

Credit cards are no no due to our credit rating although I'm hoping it'll be good enough in a few months for me to get Santander's one which gives cashback on spending in shops (would make sure the money to cover is in bank before spending so I can transfer from bank a/c to credit card and keep interest to minimum if not 0.00. Also if entire banking system went down, then credit cards would also likely to be declined.

For if entire banking network goes down which could also mean credit cards wouldn't work, the only option is cash, for me the way to do this is envelope (the small ones designed to be used by places that pay employees with cash) for each of the monthly bills with details needed to pay them at the post office. Also put money in the box to make sure we've got money for food. Would phone any that can't be paid at post office (think Guide Dogs sponsorship and TAMBA are the only 2 we have that can't be paid at post office or through Paypoint/Payzone/Paystation (not seen Paystation here in Northern Ireland). Need to check all my bills which get paid by D/D or S/O to see if they can be paid at Post Office or the 3 P's.

The one that scared me the most was one evening, the electric meter started bleeping as the credit had dropped below £1, went to shop to get more only to be told the Payzone had gone down and no idea how long it'd be before it was back up again which got me wondering how I'd get electric if the system was still down the next day (didn't want to use the £1 emergency that's on the meter). Luckily, it was working the next day.

HSBC systems went down for a few hours last year but didn't cause me any problems as it was fixed overnight.

For people who can't afford to save anything or to have money sitting just in envelopes 'just in case'. I'd suggest at least having a jar which small change goes into so you have money for food and electric/gas meters if you're on pre payment. I'm not sure that I'll be able to have envelopes for all the bills but will have for the ones which would cause the biggest hassle if they got cut off and also debts (wouldn't want hassle of trying to get defaults removed from credit file especially as I'm trying to improve my rating). I'd hope that BT, Sky & mobile phone companies wouldn't cut us off due to banking system going down, if they did, I'd hope they'd reconnect without charging.

Fiddlestick

MoneySaverLog wrote: »

That would not stop you from saving with someone who paid a better rate of interest though.

I never said that I saved with them though, just that it's who my current account is with

pqrdef

cottager wrote: »

I'd be interested to know what you had in mind, and in practical terms how it would operate.

So would I. But employers will have to do better than just leaving it to their bank to pay the wages as and when it feels up to it.

Joe_Bloggs

This is in response to what Cate1976 said:-

Halifax: Effectively dead as I'm paying off overdraft on it at £5 week.

As I read things the charges on this are £1 a day if overdraft under £2000.
It is a cruel nagging charge unless you pay it off in one go.
J_B.

randomnut

I think at this point in time it's pertinent to not only consider how to mitigate massive technical failures like Natwest had but also what could happen if the banks collapse, like is indicated by this second resession that we are slipping into.

The banks are not as financially well off as we thought they were (and that was not a lot anyway!) with them having to fudge the lending figures so seem more stable than they are.

I honestly think it's time to move away from the big circuses that call themselves banks and onto Building Societies who only have our interests to look out for.

I've personally just moved my 2 bank accounts from Barclays over to Nationwide. Firstly it was because of their shoddy indian call centres who kept screwing up because of the language barrier. Also I was not happy with their business practices especially the latest news to come out so I have voted with my feet and moved accounts.

When (at least some) the banks inevitably come crashing at least I have confidence the building societies will still be standing and my cash will be safe!

CLAPTON

randomnut wrote: »

I think at this point in time it's pertinent to not only consider how to mitigate massive technical failures like Natwest had but also what could happen if the banks collapse, like is indicated by this second resession that we are slipping into.

The banks are not as financially well off as we thought they were (and that was not a lot anyway!) with them having to fudge the lending figures so seem more stable than they are.

I honestly think it's time to move away from the big circuses that call themselves banks and onto Building Societies who only have our interests to look out for.

I've personally just moved my 2 bank accounts from Barclays over to Nationwide. Firstly it was because of their shoddy indian call centres who kept screwing up because of the language barrier. Also I was not happy with their business practices especially the latest news to come out so I have voted with my feet and moved accounts.

When (at least some) the banks inevitably come crashing at least I have confidence the building societies will still be standing and my cash will be safe!

the great majority of building societies have gone out of business and have been 'saved' by government presssure by being taken over by the few big ones left

Nationwide almost became insolvent due to it's stupid uncollared mortgage rates

but I can't see any government allowing ordinary savers from losing money from failed banks or building societies.

the technical failures do perhaps show the potential advantages of banking with some-one with real high street branches

[Deleted User]

In 2000 I could not access an internet bank account as there was a problem with the server. I realised how vunerable internet accounts were - not just problems with the bank but also problems with my computer/internet connection.I put some money into a building society accounts with card access and passbook as security.

vectistim

opinions4u wrote: »

2 credit card providers - different banking groups.

2 current accounts with ATM cards - different banking groups.

2 savings accounts with growing balances - different banking groups.

Carry £10 in cash at all times as well.

Tin of beans in the cupboard and loaf of bread in the freezer.

This is essentially my solution too, although I'm not normally wandering around with that much cash on me.