We'd like to remind Forumites to please avoid political debate on the Forum... Read More »
PLEASE READ BEFORE POSTING: Hello Forumites! In order to help keep the Forum a useful, safe and friendly place for our users, discussions around non-MoneySaving matters are not permitted per the Forum rules. While we understand that mentioning house prices may sometimes be relevant to a user's specific MoneySaving situation, we ask that you please avoid veering into broad, general debates about the market, the economy and politics, as these can unfortunately lead to abusive or hateful behaviour. Threads that are found to have derailed into wider discussions may be removed. Users who repeatedly disregard this may have their Forum account banned. Please also avoid posting personally identifiable information, including links to your own online property listing which may reveal your address. Thank you for your understanding.
📨 Have you signed up to the Forum's new Email Digest yet? Get a selection of trending threads sent straight to your inbox daily, weekly or monthly!
All Savings offset in Barclays - how safe?

busy_b
Posts: 126 Forumite
I have offset my savings against my mortgage with Barclays (36k), with all the hype on here I want to know how I stand.
It's apparantly only £1000 over the amount guaranteed by the government and so I may just pay off a couple of thousand to insure myself but is this necessary?
I literally complete on Friday after months of deliberation, I'm not panicking but just want to know how I stand or if I could, should I pull out now?
Your thoughts appreciated! Thanks.
It's apparantly only £1000 over the amount guaranteed by the government and so I may just pay off a couple of thousand to insure myself but is this necessary?
I literally complete on Friday after months of deliberation, I'm not panicking but just want to know how I stand or if I could, should I pull out now?
Your thoughts appreciated! Thanks.
0
Comments
-
It's not the "government" technically that provides the guaranty, it's the banking system.
If a bank goes tits-up the other banks have to have a whip-round and come up with £2bn between them.
If you've got £36k in saving why don't you use them to pay-down your mortgage properly... shorten it by 10 years.Bankruptcy isn't the worst that can happen to you. The worst that can happen is your forced to live the rest of your life in abject poverty trying to repay the debts.0 -
It seemed a good idea to just leave it offsetting so that we had access to it because once it's used to pay off the mortgage it's gone.
It's interest only and so competely offsets and we don't need to pay anthing monthly so the amount we would have paid goes into savings.
We intended to pay off say 5k a year if we hadn't touched the savings and gradually pay it off that way.0 -
I thought (but I may be wrong) that the protection scheme covers the net amount with an institution. So in your case the net amount would be zero.I'm a Forum Ambassador on the housing, mortgages & student money saving boards. I volunteer to help get your forum questions answered and keep the forum running smoothly. Forum Ambassadors are not moderators and don't read every post. If you spot an illegal or inappropriate post then please report it to forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com (it's not part of my role to deal with this). Any views are mine and not the official line of MoneySavingExpert.com.0
-
Your best bet is always to pay off your mortgage as fast as you can. The faster you pay it off the less interest you pay, and the less exposed you are.Bankruptcy isn't the worst that can happen to you. The worst that can happen is your forced to live the rest of your life in abject poverty trying to repay the debts.0
-
If a bank goes bust the creditors all queue up to get their money back. However you are not a creditor, your are a debtor.
However the government will not let any of the big banks go bust, while their assets outstrip their liabilities they will be loaned money by the BOE0 -
while their assets outstrip their liabilities they will be loaned money by the BOE
Of course if house prices drop the banks will also technically be in negative equity and unable to get loans from the BoE.
The BoE is loaning money to Northern Wreck secured against specific high-quality assets. If a bank doesn't have enough high-quality assets then the BoE will only lend to them on an overnight basis rather than the 3 month basis that Northern Wreck are getting.Bankruptcy isn't the worst that can happen to you. The worst that can happen is your forced to live the rest of your life in abject poverty trying to repay the debts.0 -
If you want a reality check on the likely hood of Barclays ever falling into this position, have a chat with City Index, or even Ladbrokes and ask them for the odds of Barclays failing to this extent.
I'd hazard a guess the odds would be in the region of Elvis appearing on the moon Driving Cliff Richards Double Decker bus.
But don't take my word for it....ask yourself. You could probably place a £1 at 35000-1 - consider it you're own insurance policy.0 -
I am totally confused now! (doesn't take much).
If I have £36,000 in savings (even though they are not receiving interest they are still classed as savings) then what's this about a net amount of zero Silvercar?
Surely the fact that I am offsetting my savings against my mortgage wouldn't exclude me from any government guarantee or would it?0 -
Your best bet is always to pay off your mortgage as fast as you can. The faster you pay it off the less interest you pay, and the less exposed you are.
But that's the whole point of an offset, you don't need to do that. The £36K that the OP refers to is already being used to reduce interest - then it's his/her choice to use that saving for paying the mortgage off early or for having lower payments.0 -
Assuming mortgage is £150k, savings £36k, you owe them £114k, if they go bust.
I do hope that if they go bust you're not wanting to forget the mortgage repayment, but reclaim from the guarantee fund?I can spell - but I can't type0
This discussion has been closed.
Confirm your email address to Create Threads and Reply

Categories
- All Categories
- 351.4K Banking & Borrowing
- 253.3K Reduce Debt & Boost Income
- 453.8K Spending & Discounts
- 244.4K Work, Benefits & Business
- 599.7K Mortgages, Homes & Bills
- 177.2K Life & Family
- 258K Travel & Transport
- 1.5M Hobbies & Leisure
- 16.2K Discuss & Feedback
- 37.6K Read-Only Boards