Maximum Amount To Invest In a Building Society?

tony4563

In light of recent events with Northern Rock, whats the general opinion about the maximum amount of investment to leave in any one building society or bank? We have all our savings (ISA's RS etc) with the Yorkshire Building Society. this currently totals at present about £60k. I know they say you shouldn't leave all your eggs in one basket but they do seem to have attractive saving deals and my local branch is convenient, being only a stones throw away. I now understand you are protected for the first £35k in case a bank folds, so would it be wise to split this money with another building society? What's everyone else doing these days?

YorkshireBoy

tony4563 wrote: »

We have all our savings (ISA's RS etc) with the Yorkshire Building Society. this currently totals at present about £60k...I now understand you are protected for the first £35k in case a bank folds...

If you're a couple, you're covered for £35K each (in a mixture of sole and joint accounts).

Primrose

I know it makes sense to try and protect yourself fully by spreading your money around if you have large amounts of savings, but imagine what a nightmare it would be if you were fortunately enough to have £1 million in cash savings, with hundreds of accounts, trying to keep track of them. I think it's wise to have a few separate baskets, but sometimes not always very practical. I think the Government know it would bring them down to have another Northern Rock situation, so I suspect (fingers crossed) that larger amounts above the maximum compensation limit are pretty safe.

Mr_Mumble

If an institution did go under it could take months for the FSCS to pay out compensation. Its not just the sum you have to protect but the ability to access some savings in an emergency. With all your savings in YBS it may be a reasonable idea to keep a 3-6 month emergency fund elsewhere.

merlinthehappypig

Apologies if this has been asked before, but what happens to the interest in the event of this happening. Does it just get lost?

I have around £33000, at present, in one BS account, with approximately £5000 accrued interest so far this tax year. Should I be reducing this to say £29000 to get under the guarantee level or would I simply not get the accrued interest anyway in the event of a BS going under?