Totally Confused, but need to do something

janusd

Band7 said:

wmb194 said:

Albermarle said:

Richard1212 said:

nightowl2 said:

Hi Everyone,

I am not really into tracking interest rates etc, I just put money away each month.  Just switching my bank account from HSBC to Chase, I also have a Santander account that I opened some years ago when they were offering a really good rate...... that has clearly gone now.

My main problem is this £85k limit of protection on a bank account (FSCS), and I am over that on the Santander account.

so couple of questions:

1.  Would it be wise to open another account and transfer some of the funds there in order to get full protection on all my money?  or am I reading too much into the £85k limit.  Can't remember the last time in the UK we had a bank in trouble where that £85k limit meant that some people lost money.

2.  Should I just transfer money into a locked savings account, i.e., Market Harborough BS.   Its very rare for me to dip into my Santander account, except for bill payment and I am transferring bill payment from Santander to Chase as they give you 1% back for the first 12 months.


Many thanks and I look forward to reading any responses.

Hi nightowl.  Locked savings accounts are fine if you know you have enough in easy access accounts for your urgent needs----and as another forumite said, you can often get money out for a penalty sum. Personally I try to keep as much as I might need in Easy Access and the rest in "locked" ( which are usually "unlockable"). If you're worried about the £85k limit, I use Joint Accounts with my wife----then the figure becomes £170k ( you may wish to consider  if that option is relevant in your own case ). Good luck with all your savings.

Which was an incorrect statement, as I pointed in an earlier post. It is only possible with a fixed rate ISA, not with non ISA fixed rates.

They seem to be rare these days but not strictly true e.g., Nationwide's branch based non-Isa savings bonds can be closed with an interest penalty.

https://www.nationwide.co.uk/savings/fixed-rate-bond/

That particular Nationwide account appears to be the only exception to the rule.

Marcus still have a 1-Yr fix that you can close early for a fee (first 90 days interest, but only pays 3% interest) - so Nationwide not unique, but as previously stated by @wmb194, it's rare to find these closable non-ISA accounts now.

nightowl2

Richard1212 said:

nightowl2 said:

Hi Everyone,

I am not really into tracking interest rates etc, I just put money away each month.  Just switching my bank account from HSBC to Chase, I also have a Santander account that I opened some years ago when they were offering a really good rate...... that has clearly gone now.

My main problem is this £85k limit of protection on a bank account (FSCS), and I am over that on the Santander account.

so couple of questions:

1.  Would it be wise to open another account and transfer some of the funds there in order to get full protection on all my money?  or am I reading too much into the £85k limit.  Can't remember the last time in the UK we had a bank in trouble where that £85k limit meant that some people lost money.

2.  Should I just transfer money into a locked savings account, i.e., Market Harborough BS.   Its very rare for me to dip into my Santander account, except for bill payment and I am transferring bill payment from Santander to Chase as they give you 1% back for the first 12 months.


Many thanks and I look forward to reading any responses.

I use Joint Accounts with my wife----then the figure becomes £170k ( you may wish to consider  if that option is relevant in your own case ). Good luck with all your savings.

Many thanks for your comments, very much appreciate everyone taking to offer advice.    Unfortunately my wife passed away 2yrs ago so the option of having a joint account is a no go, but thanks for the suggestion anyway.

valiant24

Linton said:

1)  No-one has ever lost money in a UK bank failure due to having more than £85K in their account.  But the £85K limit only came into force in 2017. 

2) Would you really want easy access to more than £85K?  

I would have thought a far greater cause of concern than a bnk going bust should be the continual loss of value of your savings because of inflation.

Cash has fared better than both equities and gilts this year so I wouldn't be too judgemental.