Santander-Am I a fool busting the FSCS limit with this bank?

smjxm09

Looking at the views here I think I will have to look into moving an ISA but it pains me as traditionally ISA rates are best round the end of and the start of the financial year and not at Christmas.

I still am of an opinion that if they got into financial trouble they would have to announce it to the stock exchange first so at least giving some warning.

eskbanker

smjxm09 wrote: »

Looking at the views here I think I will have to look into moving an ISA but it pains me as traditionally ISA rates are best round the end of and the start of the financial year and not at Christmas.

I still am of an opinion that if they got into financial trouble they would have to announce it to the stock exchange first so at least giving some warning.

Not sure you could really rely on either of those statements - the cash ISA market has been poor all year round for several years now and by the time a bank made a formal announcement about financial difficulties it would probably be too late to act on it (everyone would be in the same boat)

colsten

macman wrote: »

I too cannot conceive of a situation in which the UK govt would allow a bank as large as Santander to fail.

I don't share your optimism, and I hope no government will ever bail out another bank as if they could all be sure of being bailed out, they could just ruthlessly enrich themselves and then go bust.

Aside from that, a government rescuing a bank does no necessarily include that all depositors will get their money back. Quite the contrary, any rescue plan might pre-req that no depositor gets more than the assured sum (i.e. FSCS guarantee).

We have seen recent examples of this sort of 'rescue' in Malta and Cyprus.

I continue to firmly believe that it is foolish to exceed the FSCS limit.

colsten

smjxm09 wrote: »

I still am of an opinion that if they got into financial trouble they would have to announce it to the stock exchange first so at least giving some warning.

By the time of a formal announcement to the stock exchange, the queues of people desperate to get their money out will already go three times round the block

smjxm09

Martin Lewis seems to be taking a slightly different view http://blog.moneysavingexpert.com/2015/10/20/bigger-savers-do-you-really-need-to-spread-your-savings/?_ga=1.33463227.489463854.1449771385#splitpot

colsten

Without reading the article: He is entitled to his view, as are the rest of us. If you sit on £80+ million, you are not likely to worry about FSCS limits. Most people don't have that comfy cushion.

Most people who do have more than £75K will probably also have some of their money in investments rather than savings.If they don't, they should look into it.

Nick_C

Would that be the same Martin Lewis who was recommending Icelandic banks a few years ago?

Sam_J12

People are grossly overstating the risk here. No person in the UK has EVER lost money deposited in a UK bank. Ever. This includes Northern Rock despite people citing it here multiple times. Being a bit over the 75k limit is nothing to worry about.

Malthusian

Hey, Lewis was proved right. The UK Icesave savers got every penny of their money back, at the expense of British banks. They should have lost every penny above €20,000.

(Which reinforces my point above about the unlikelihood of the government allowing any British depositor to lose money, even over the FSCS limit.)

JimmyTheWig

Sam_J12 wrote: »

People are grossly overstating the risk here. No person in the UK has EVER lost money deposited in a UK bank. Ever. This includes Northern Rock despite people citing it here multiple times. Being a bit over the 75k limit is nothing to worry about.

It does depend on how much you need the money, though.

The only way I'd have that sort of cash would be as a Stooz pot.
If I lost £10k of it I'd be in serious trouble.