Should I put more money with Santander - are they safe?

TanDiy

I would really appreciate your views on Santander - my relatives have 40K with Santander and are thinking of transferring 90K of ISAs to them. This means they would now have £130K with Santander which would give them some £70-80 more interest a month. They like the idea of having everything in one place and feel that this is easy to manage.

I just wondered whether you think it is safe having this amount of money with Santander or one building society. I was just wondering whether they should maybe spread the money across another bank/building society even if they do get a little less interest. I know they could get more with higher rate bank accounts but they would not cope with all this mucking around.

Thanks for your views.

ColdIron

Santander are a bank not a BS. If they have up to £85,000 each or £170,000 in a joint account they are safe as they will be covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme

brendon

If it's an ISA or an individual account, you are protected up to £85k. If you have a joint account, you are protected up to £170k. I don't see what benefit putting all your cash with Santander is? Their ISA rates seem fairly standard, and you'll get comparable rates elsewhere.

TanDiy

brendon wrote: »

If it's an ISA or an individual account, you are protected up to £85k. If you have a joint account, you are protected up to £170k. I don't see what benefit putting all your cash with Santander is? Their ISA rates seem fairly standard, and you'll get comparable rates elsewhere.

Thanks for the info. I did have a look around and could not find anything better - 2.3% for 2 years with 120 days penalty. I should add that they are in their seventies and want a straight forward arrangement. I also have no idea if they might suddenly decide they want to draw some out? The only other deal I found was Coventry 2.75% but they did not like the 4 year term? Thanks

ColdIron

Oops, missed that these were ISAs so joint accounts are not allowed, make sure they have no more than £85,000 each

TanDiy

Thanks for the info. I guess Santander in the UK are just as safe as any other bank - just trying to help them keep things simple.

mike88

TanDiy wrote: »

Thanks for the info. I guess Santander in the UK are just as safe as any other bank - just trying to help them keep things simple.

Santander were in difficulty a few years back as were others. I would not risk depositing over the FSCS compensation limit (of £85000 or £170000 for joint accounts) although would not hesitate to use them for deposits within these limits.

moneyfoolish

If the £130k is equally split then that's £65k each so you have no problem. As long as one of them has no more than £85k they are completely covered.