İCESAVE account and compensation re online fraud?

Willywombat64

Maybe İ'm being paranoid but recently opened an İcesave account in which to deposit a considerable sum ( far ın excess of the approx 30k you are covered for if things go pear shaped) .Anyway İ've become nervous as İ noticed that unlike my 2 other internet accounts ( nationwide and bank of scotland ....who guarantee that if you lose any cash as a result of internet fraud ..they'll replace it) İCESAVE DO NOT! ......so basically if İ was unlucky enough to be a victim of the constantly evolving and sophisticated online criminal world ...It appears i wouldn't be covered .
Your comments and opinions re this would be much appreciated.

Primrose

Do you specifically need another internet savings account? If you're getting really nervous about banking fraud, another option for your savings, if you are prepared to tie them up for 12 months, is to opt for one of the competitive One Year Savings bonds which several building societies offer. Birmingham Midshires often offer very good deals. it would be very difficult for a fraudster to get at your money then. I know there is the risk of another Bank Rate rise in the autumn, but if sound sleeping at night is your priority, split your savings into chunks which are covered by the banking guarantee, and opt for offline accounts or fixed rate savings bonds.

jem16

Your comments and opinions re this would be much appreciated.

If your username is also, as I suspect, your email address, I would change it pretty quickly.

If nothing else you have opened yourself up to loads of spam emails.

Paul_Herring

Your comments and opinions re this would be much appreciated.

Well since the only way into or out of that account is via your linked account(s), you'd either have to have your other account(s) (which have the guarantees apparently) also accessable to a fraudster, or be unaware of another account being added (which cannot be done online - at least not as far as I can see.)

DRS1

Following up on Primrose's suggestion and at the risk of incurring the wrath of Paul Herring have you looked at the Halifax Guaranteed Growth Bond?

On another thread Paul Herring calls it a form of GEB (which is the kiss of death on this board) but I think it may be a form of Guaranteed Income Bond. You should obviously check this with Halifax and look at all the other reasons why it may not be suitable for you but going back to the what if it goes pear shaped concern for a second I think the protection for Guaranteed Income Bonds (which are issued by insurance companies) is better than for bank accounts and the like. The first £2k is covered 100% in the same way as bank accounts but the 90% level of protection is not capped as for bank accounts - so if you are putting away more than £30K you may feel safer with that sort of thing.

Most of these things want to lock your money away for years but the Halifax one is only for 1 year.

It is a fixed interest rate (and you may want to see if it gets beaten now the BOE base rate has gone up) but for a higher rate tax payer these things can be beneficial (though not nearly as beneficial as if you are higher rate now but will be lower rate when they mature - but that is another story. It all got a bit too complicated for me and I get suspicious of things which sound that good especially from the insurance industry so it is not something I have done myself. But the Halifax one is only for one year and I don't think it gets you into the really complicated territory - you can just think of it like any other 1 year fixed rate bond.)

Oh and it is not for you if you are a non or lower rate tax payer.

I shall stop now and duck back under cover in case Mr Herring is reading.

DRS1

Apologies toPaul Herring - I have looked again and he only said it looks "suspiciously similar" to a GEB.

Paul_Herring

The Halifax thread is here, and I also mention an NS&I product which gives more interest (but you need to leave your money in a bit longer, and limited to only £15K.)