We’d like to remind Forumites to please avoid political debate on the Forum.

This is to keep it a safe and useful space for MoneySaving discussions. Threads that are – or become – political in nature may be removed in line with the Forum’s rules. 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!
The Forum now has a brand new text editor, adding a bunch of handy features to use when creating posts. Read more in our how-to guide

New Ts &Cs bank notifications

Hi all,

This is more of a question of clarification.

I have received a number of emails about the above title and having read most of the changes it seems to be a constant. I am clear that the new FCS limits have been raised to £120k per account/bank but I also see a notification that my acceptance of the banks new Ts & Cs signs me up to stakeholder status that means should the bank fail my savings could/will be used to pay creditors. Now I understand that the government is supposed to underwrite our savings to the max limit but I also read that when the max limit was £85k the government account to reimburse us was woefully under funded (75% underfunded in fact) and now that the limit has been raised to £120k it is percentage wise even more underfunded.

Can anyone confirm or explain to me how my savings would be safe if the above is true.

Many thanks,

Paul

Comments

  • pochisoldi
    pochisoldi Posts: 368 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 100 Posts Name Dropper

    Which bank/financial institution are we talking about here?

    Do you have a link to the webpage/document in question?

    Without either of the above, the answer to "Can anyone confirm or explain to me how my savings would be safe if the above is true." would be "No".

  • flaneurs_lobster
    flaneurs_lobster Posts: 9,705 Forumite
    Seventh Anniversary 1,000 Posts Photogenic Name Dropper

    Don't know where you are reading your information but the FSCS has never been underwritten by Government, the clue's in the name, so there is/was no Government account to be funded, woefully or otherwise.

    I have received one of those changes to terms emails today (from Cahoot). There's no mention of a "stakeholder status" or indeed any change at all other than the amount covered.

    Care to share your sources? My money's on the Mail/Express.

  • eskbanker
    eskbanker Posts: 40,333 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic

    FSCS has never been underwritten by Government, the clue's in the name, so there is/was no Government account to be funded, woefully or otherwise

    FSCS is indeed industry funded, but the government does effectively underwrite it, in terms of the Treasury backstop, used in exceptional circumstances such as in 2008:

    During the crisis, we had to borrow a large amount of money from HM Treasury so we could pay compensation quickly and not leave customers out of pocket.

    https://www.fscs.org.uk/news/archive/book-closed-on-2008-banking-crisis/

  • gpman
    gpman Posts: 695 Forumite
    500 Posts Name Dropper
    edited 5 February at 5:22PM

    Without knowing what financial institution you are referring to, nor the verifying the detail you have posted, the explanation I would offer is as follows:

    You are a creditor of the financial institution.

    In the unlikely event it goes bust, you are still treated as a creditor and will be treated as such.

    The FSCS is a statutory scheme that protects you from any loss (subject to their own t&cs, limits, etc)

    In the even more unlikely event the FSCS cannot meet it's liabilities, I'm sure the government will step in (but that is not guaranteed)

    The FSCS is not underfunded in the sense of being unable to pay claims. The scheme operates where it raises funds to cover possible failures it reasonably expects, rather than holding a massive reserve to cover total sudden failure of all the UK banking institutions.(or at least a major part of them)

  • masonic
    masonic Posts: 29,404 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Photogenic Name Dropper

    Effectively every deposit account operates like this. That is why we have the FSCS.

  • LHW99
    LHW99 Posts: 5,674 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Photogenic Name Dropper

    And if every bank in the UK failed at once and needed bailing out - make sure you're well stocked with beans.

Meet your Ambassadors

🚀 Getting Started

Hi new member!

Our Getting Started Guide will help you get the most out of the Forum

Categories

  • All Categories
  • 354.1K Banking & Borrowing
  • 254.3K Reduce Debt & Boost Income
  • 455.3K Spending & Discounts
  • 247.1K Work, Benefits & Business
  • 603.7K Mortgages, Homes & Bills
  • 178.3K Life & Family
  • 261.2K Travel & Transport
  • 1.5M Hobbies & Leisure
  • 16.1K Discuss & Feedback
  • 37.7K Read-Only Boards

Is this how you want to be seen?

We see you are using a default avatar. It takes only a few seconds to pick a picture.