Question regarding thei LLoyds TSB and HBOS take over

[Sara]

I am really worried about my savings, all my savings is with Halifax, roughly £33,000, £25,000 in a guaranteed savers account where l can't touch it, and rest in ISA's.

Is my money safe?? or do you think l should move and take it to another bank?

Your opinions appreaciated.

[Kryten]

Totally safe. Enough said.

[yaffle]

It's protected up to £35,000 per person (£70,000 for joint accounts). So you're safe.

[stillill]

As long as the total required to pay out to everyone doesn't top £4b I think. That's how much is in the pot, and it could take several years to get the money back.

[edit] ps, this assuming another bank goes bust, but seems unlikely if the govt. now has policy of bailing them out, another thread no doubt happening elsewhere. Don't worry.

[craig1912]

Totally Safe and even if it wasn't you would be fully covered under the Financial Services Compensation Scheme
http://www.fscs.org.uk/consumer/key_facts/Limitations_of_the_scheme/Compensation_Limits/

[NicolaUK]

Bear in mind it's only 35k per company not per bank or per account, ie you wouldn't be covered for 35k in HBOS and Halifax.

[stillill]

Get a financial adviser.

[MaleStrom]

In the current climate this may well turn out to be the safest bank to have your money in!

[SFletch]

I would withdraw the lot and stuff it under your mattress.

P.S. Where do you live?

P.P.S. You money is totally safe. a) The bank is now less likely to go bust and b) Up to £35k is 100% guaranteed anyway.

[Stig MK2]

just read a good article about this today. http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/savings/safe-savings
explains pretty much everything. Yes there is a £4 billion limit but this isn't a limit (I know, I know) basically, the most the FSA can claim from financial institutions is £4 billion a year. If they needed to pay out more than this, the gov would give the FSA a loan paid back by various finance institutions that have signed up to the 35k limit.

All in all, its all as safe as before this all hit the headlines.

[Raigmore]

I asked this specific question to our IFA just this morning because my wife and both her parents have savings with Halifax. We have been with this IFA for many years and he is very savvy; he assured us that there was nothing to worry about and the money was safe.:)

[bh1]

Is there an echo?

[ac]

I asked this specific question to our IFA just this morning because my wife and both her parents have savings with Halifax. We have been with this IFA for many years and he is very savvy; he assured us that there was nothing to worry about and the money was safe.:)

...before he gathered together two large holdalls of cash he'd just withdrawn from his own Halifax savings account and made a sharp exit towards Gatwick airport for an XL flight to the States to take up his new role as Finance Director at AIG. ;)

What I would like to know is, had HBOS not been 'rescued', what happens to mortgage customers in this situation? I've read a lot about savings, which is understandably the worrying bit as they have your money, but what happens when you owe them money?

[farmroad38]

...before he gathered together two large holdalls of cash he'd just withdrawn from his own Halifax savings account and made a sharp exit towards Gatwick airport for an XL flight to the States to take up his new role as Finance Director at AIG. ;)

What I would like to know is, had HBOS not been 'rescued', what happens to mortgage customers in this situation? I've read a lot about savings, which is understandably the worrying bit as they have your money, but what happens when you owe them money?

Any debt would be sold off by the administrators, so you'd just end up owing the money to someone else.

[Sara]

Thanks guys for advice, gives me bit of peace of mind.

Thanks :-)

[Saber]

So what happens if you have over £35,000 in an account?

[farmroad38]

So what happens if you have over £35,000 in an account?

According the the information here (http://fscs.org.uk/consumer/key_facts/limitations_of_the_scheme/compensation_limits/), anything above £35k is just treated in the same way as any other amount owing to a creditor, i.e. you may get all, some, or none of it back.

[ac]

Any debt would be sold off by the administrators, so you'd just end up owing the money to someone else.

Thought that would be the case, presumably still under the terms of your existing mortgage deal until that comes to an end.

[yaffle]

So what happens if you have over £35,000 in an account?

Then rearrange your savings so that you don't have more than 35k deposited with any single bank (or 'family' of banks, e.g. Halifax and Bank of Scotland are a single entity for this purpose).

Or stick it all in Northern Rock, or National Savings, which has unlimited government backing.

[farmroad38]

Then rearrange your savings so that you don't have more than 35k deposited with any single bank (or 'family' of banks, e.g. Halifax and Bank of Scotland are a single entity for this purpose).

Or stick it all in Northern Rock, or National Savings, which has unlimited government backing.

Actually, the £35k compensation limit is per banking licence. I believe that when RBS and NatWest merged, they kept their individual licences, so you could have £35k with each of them and be fully protected (again, I can't remember where I read that, so it could be absolute hogwash).

[yaffle]

Actually, the £35k compensation limit is per banking licence. I believe that when RBS and NatWest merged, they kept their individual licences, so you could have £35k with each of them and be fully protected (again, I can't remember where I read that, so it could be absolute hogwash).

That sounds right to me, too. Not sure how you'd go about checking that though? I'd just spread it around different groups to be sure, if I had that much (dream on!)

[KennyVader]

Actually, the £35k compensation limit is per banking licence. I believe that when RBS and NatWest merged, they kept their individual licences, so you could have £35k with each of them and be fully protected (again, I can't remember where I read that, so it could be absolute hogwash).

I am pretty sure that Gordon Brown was using this as a justification for tossing competiton law out the window in the HBOS/Lloyds-TSB merger yesterday - he was saying that it was a good thing for consumers as it meant that now they could have two lots of protected money there.

Can't find any record of him saying it today though, so maybe somebody decided he was wrong and expunged his comments from the press forever.

It would be a bit harsh if it was "per family of companies" though. While Halifax and Bank of Scotland might be obviously now the same parentage, I am not sure it's so obvious that the Birmingham Midshires Building Society is the same group as Halifax unless you read all their small print.

[andog]

Bear in mind it's only 35k per company not per bank or per account, ie you wouldn't be covered for 35k in HBOS and Halifax. more strictly speaking, it's per banking licence :) so if HBOS and Halifax, although the same company, had 2 banking licences it would be £35k for each banking licence

(as is my understanding :) )


edit: nuts, someone already said that... i must be going blind or mad! :cuckoo: :doh:

[Philc]

Anyone bought shares in either HBOS or Halifax yesterday? Gone up alot today as faith is restored in these institutions etc..

[NicolaUK]

more strictly speaking, it's per banking licence :) so if HBOS and Halifax, although the same company, had 2 banking licences it would be £35k for each banking licence

(as is my understanding :) )


edit: nuts, someone already said that... i must be going blind or mad! :cuckoo: :doh:

Yes I know which is why I named those two ;) they operate under the same license.

RBS and NatWest are still separate institutions.

The table half way down the page here shows who's who http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/savings/safe-savings

[farmroad38]

Anyone bought shares in either HBOS or Halifax yesterday? Gone up alot today as faith is restored in these institutions etc..

HBOS or Halifax? They're the same beast!

I bought some on earlier in the week, and sold them today. It was my intention to keep them long term, but they'd gone above the offer price from Lloyds, so I thought I'd take what I could now.