How Safe are the UK Building societies

Exeterexile

In light of the US Sub-Prime Mortgage crisis and the problems this is causing to financial institutions in the US.
How safe is our money invested in savings accounts in the UK? Surely they have been applying similar lending criteria - Are any of the UK Building Societies likely to be in danger of folding?

FelOn_2

Exeterexile wrote: »

In light of the US Sub-Prime Mortgage crisis and the problems this is causing to financial institutions in the US.
How safe is our money invested in savings accounts in the UK? Surely they have been applying similar lending criteria - Are any of the UK Building Societies likely to be in danger of folding?

Just be carefull of Northern Rock and Barclays, they won't go bust but their share price will [has] take[n] a hit.

rebeccaj

oh, not another "how safe" thread please. There have been a spate of these just recently all asking the same question......

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=538181
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=536537
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=533826
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=525497
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=524407

and the answer remains the same.

mystic_trev

Exeterexile wrote: »

In light of the US Sub-Prime Mortgage crisis and the problems this is causing to financial institutions in the US.
How safe is our money invested in savings accounts in the UK? Surely they have been applying similar lending criteria - Are any of the UK Building Societies likely to be in danger of folding?

Yep they'll all be 'going to the wall' :eek: Get your money out now and stuff it under the mattress :rolleyes: Just pray you don't have a fire :rotfl:

ManAtHome

mystic_trev wrote: »

Just pray you don't have a fire

Isn't a slow response from the fire brigade illegal..?

Geoffo_M

rebeccaj wrote: »

oh, not another "how safe" thread please. There have been a spate of these just recently all asking the same question......

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=538181
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=536537
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=533826
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=525497
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=524407

and the answer remains the same.

Plain daft I'd say Rebecca - can you imagine people being worried about their money being safe. Just how stupid can people be?

kirmin

rebeccaj wrote: »

oh, not another "how safe" thread please. There have been a spate of these just recently all asking the same question......

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=538181
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=536537
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=533826
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=525497
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=524407

and the answer remains the same.

I asked a similar question out of anxiety that the hard work i have put into saving in the last 5 years might be at risk from the financial markets.

I dont think that your answer is really in the spirit of this website - if everyone else had the same attitude then people would stop asking questions for fear of someone making them look like a fool and consequently be led - blind - into the next fairpack. Then Maybe your attitude would be 'silly !!!!!!s, they should have know better'

baby_boomer

What's really funny is that the MP "friends" of the mutuals (and there are hundreds of them on a cross-party committee) have just proposed and passed legislation in the House of Commons in 2007 to enable the building societies to behave more like Northern Rock :eek:. (i.e. lend much more money not backed by ordinary savings accounts)

With "friends" like these, who needs enemies :rotfl: ?

Never trust ordinary MPs with financial matters . They are gormless, except when it comes to voting themselves the third best pensions in the country at the expense of the UK taxpayer.

In fact, it was the same MP who shepherded both pieces of legislation through the Commons - Sir John Butterfill of Bournemouth West .

To address the main question. Some UK BSs have recently "spread their wings" into commercial property and sub-prime lending - and Cheshire BS recently got taken for a ride in commercial property to record the first loss in its history - but most still have their feet on the ground and UK property is not US property (we have a rising population, not a lot of space and rigid planning restrictions).

Ian_W

kirmin wrote: »

I dont think that your answer is really in the spirit of this website - if everyone else had the same attitude then people would stop asking questions for fear of someone making them look like a fool and consequently be led - blind - into the next fairpack. Then Maybe your attitude would be 'silly !!!!!!s, they should have know better'

Fare pack were not regulated by the FSA or covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme - but before shouting the odds at others perhaps you should read the forum do's and don'ts, like:
"Ask a question or start a discussion
Before you do that, do check your topic hasn’t already been covered, either by scanning through the threads or using the search function (see below).
OR
How do I find out whether my subject is already being discussed ...
Search the Chat/Discussion boards. Someone may have already asked a similar question. To check use the search engine at the top of this page. It is a powerful search tool with many options. If the subject is similar, why not continue that discussion and put your question/suggestion there rather than starting a new one."

The "how safe are?" questions are now on a daily basis as rebeccaj points out and there is one on most pages over the past few weeks so if you just look through the first couple of pages you won't even need the search engine.

As to a reply to the question - here's one I made earlier,
I think you've probably more chance of being knocked down whilst out walking on the M25 by Lord Lucan riding Shergar than a major UK High Street bank [I'd include BSs as well!] going bust. Banking is entirely built on the trust that you can deposit your money and when you want it to spend you will get it returned. If one Bank goes bust, why would you trust any bank?

rebeccaj

kirmin wrote: »

I dont think that your answer is really in the spirit of this website - if everyone else had the same attitude then people would stop asking questions for fear of someone making them look like a fool and consequently be led - blind - into the next fairpack. Then Maybe your attitude would be 'silly !!!!!!s, they should have know better'

I wasn't suggesting at all that the question shouldn't be asked or that it was silly to ask. I was merely pointing out that the question had been asked several times in other threads quite recently, and saying there was not really any reason for the same question to be asked over and over.

Sheesh, some people are so touchy

Ian_W wrote: »

but before shouting the odds at others perhaps you should read the forum do's and don'ts, like:
"Ask a question or start a discussion
Before you do that, do check your topic hasn’t already been covered, either by scanning through the threads or using the search function (see below).
OR
How do I find out whether my subject is already being discussed ...
Search the Chat/Discussion boards. Someone may have already asked a similar question. To check use the search engine at the top of this page. It is a powerful search tool with many options. If the subject is similar, why not continue that discussion and put your question/suggestion there rather than starting a new one."

The "how safe are?" questions are now on a daily basis as rebeccaj points out and there is one on most pages over the past few weeks so if you just look through the first couple of pages you won't even need the search engine.

exactly! It's not hard to search to avoid duplication. It only took a couple of seconds using only the term 'safe' in the search box to come up with those existing threads I quoted.

rebeccaj

Geoffo_M wrote: »

Plain daft I'd say Rebecca - can you imagine people being worried about their money being safe. Just how stupid can people be?

sarcasm isn't necessary.

I have explained the reason for my post about duplications in the post above this one.