Icesave: how safe are your savings? Facts and myths

cornubian

"
The BBC has just reported a comment made by Alastair Darling:

"The Icelandic government, believe it or not, have told me yesterday they have no intention of honouring their obligations here," said Mr Darling.

Darling is hopping mad and no doubt will be thinking about freezing Iceland owned assets in the UK.

We got lucky this time but I will never invest/save abroad again.

benjii

I'm very disappointed with the attitude of the Icelandic government. On the contrary I'm impressed with the UK actions :T and I hope that Alistair Darling will have some good news today.

When I get my money back I will put it in one of the big UK banks with the best saving rate.

EconomicsGirl

Just watched BBC news and it said that all Icesavers money will be returned even above the £50k.

Saw this on Financial Compensation Scheme website:

HM Treasury confirmed this morning that if, as expected, Landsbanki is soon declared in default, the Government will make sure that no retail depositor will lose any money as a result of the closure of Icesave.
The Treasury have also confirmed that arrangements are being put in place to ensure that all ISA customers of Icesave will continue to benefit from the tax free status of their accounts.
FSCS is working closely with HM Treasury, the FSA and the Icelandic compensation scheme on arrangements to get people their money back.
Please watch this page for further updates.
I wouldn't normally say this but thank you Alistair Darling - I thought I'ld seen the last of the first £16k. I hope the FSA learns lessons from this and also if anyone has accounts over £50k please move them.

Aurelie_2

it sounds like the ones that have left their moneu on their account should be safe.what about those of us that have tried to tranfer the money out. there is still no sign of it anywhere!Did anyone manage to get through to Icesave?

Optimist

Aurelie wrote: »

it sounds like the ones that have left their moneu on their account should be safe.what about those of us that have tried to tranfer the money out. there is still no sign of it anywhere!Did anyone manage to get through to Icesave?

Check your account again looks like they have just been updated. I moved some money out on Sunday but it has just appeared back in my account

Aurelie_2

yeap... but managed to speak to Icesave and they confirmed that nothing was processed and money will all be put back into my Icesave account.
At least now i know where the money is.
i just don't have a clue when i will have it back!

strav100

:beer: Cheers to the UK Government and Mr Darling :beer:

jaigee_2

Optimist wrote: »

Check your account again looks like they have just been updated. I moved some money out on Sunday but it has just appeared back in my account

Mine's back as well.

Crazy times, Sunday I was glad I thought had got it out, today I'm glad I did not.

Dan_66

Firstly credit is due to Brown and Darling for trying to help-

The Prime Minister of ICELAND and those previously at the helm of ICESAVE should hang their heads in shame for shafting the UK depositors in ICESAVE! A despicable series of lies and deception followed by the final admission that Iceland will not (and cannot afford to) meet its savings guarantees to us.

There appears to me though that there is a massive catch-22 to overcome first before we all rejoice in the apparent good news today.

The FSCS will act IF ICESAVE is deemed in default-but it isn't yet and hasn't yet been declared so-see definition from FSCS website below

FSCS will declare a firm in default if:

• it has received at least one eligible claim against it, and the customer has made a financial loss;
• we are satisfied that the firm is unable, or likely to be unable, to pay claims against it. We will investigate the firm's financial position to establish this.

Secondly, as LANDSBANKI isn't insolvent and allegedly has assets in excess of £85BILLION the FSCS cannot declare it in default-can it? See below also from FSCS website!

Even if the firm is no longer trading, it (or its owners) may have enough assets to be able to meet claims made against it. If this is the case FSCS will be unable to declare the firm in default and we will not be able to consider your claim. If you wish to make a claim against a firm that is no longer trading, but are unable to find it, our Customer Services Team may be able to provide some suggestions on how to find a firm or individuals.

So are we all now in limbo due to my perception of this apparent catch-22 situation-??
Please can someone explain why I am wrong here or prove me wrong!!??

ICSAVE's own terms and conditions state they can stop transactions in exceptional circumstances for up to 60 days'

I believe there's an awful long way to go yet before we know what's happening!

EconomicsGirl

Dan - Just saw this on FSA website - its in default so we can claim our money very soon. "The UK branch of Icelandic bank, Landsbanki, which includes Icesave, has been declared in default in the UK. So in the interests of consumer protection, we have triggered the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) to safeguard retail customer savings held in Icesave. In addition, the Chancellor of the Exchequer has put in place arrangements to ensure that no retail depositor will lose any money as a result of the closure of Icesave. The FSCS will provide further information for customers shortly, to set out what will happen next and how they can make a claim. Icesave also intends to provide more information to customers as soon as possible."