Protection for savings in bank

[Kitty]

1. I'm trying to find out how much the British government have agreed to protect in British bank accounts.  I remember seeing somewhere that it is £30K or £50K per person per account but I can't find the reference.  Does anyone know where I can look?

2. If you have a savings' account in Lloyds and a savings' account in C&G (owned by Lloyds) and Lloyds goes bust, will the government pay out for both accounts?

[andyh4]

30k and no. They pay out once per banking organisation.

[thunderhorse]

£35k per person per account, and, yes, only once per organisation, so it pays to spread it around with care.

[M]

But if you have a joint account, the compensation is still £35,000 per person, i.e. £70,000 on a joint account. But only one payment per bank, so if in doubt, spread your dosh amongst several (if you have that much to spread!).

M

[Kitty]

Thanks.  Where did you find this?  Can you point me to a website?

 

[AnOther]

Definately something to look carefully into if you have got that sort of cash floating around in UK.

Some info HERE

My personally view is that in the current climate with sterling under severe pressure

I'd be very wary of keeping large amounts in £ and be looking to convert to € and

invest in the Eurozone.

[Kitty]

Thanks EY.  Useful article.  Also looked at www.fsa.gov.uk mentioned in the BBC article, although it is not that user friendly.  So my husband (in the UK) is going to visit Lloyds and C&G to see if they are separate entities for the purposes of deposit protection.

I assume, from the article, that the maximum at the moment is £35,000 per person per bank until the Chancellor's plans to increase this amount have actually been implemented.

[Russethouse]

Cathy, It may be worth searching on www.moneysavingexpert.com, both the main site and their forum...

[Kitty]

It looks a good site, RH.  Thank you.

[Quillan]

I was watching BBC Morning News today (19/09/08) where they explained its per banking group i.e. HBOS owns several banks and building societies, if you have accounts at two or more of the banks or building societies it owns you will only get one payment of £35k. It would seem that to protect your savings you need to know who owns what and only put £35k in to each group.

[Russethouse]

Yes, but shouldn't you add that the HBOS take over should keep them out of danger...lets not frighten too many people

[Gastines]

Haven't heard one mention of HSBC so I'm hoping they are a safe bet at the moment.Anyone heard anything I should worry about? Not in shares I may add only on fixed term cash  deposits.

Regards.

[Quillan]

[quote user="Russethouse"]Yes, but shouldn't you add that the HBOS take over should keep them out of danger...lets not frighten too many people[/quote]

Yes, to be honest it was just that bit of the interview I stopped to look at as I walked past the TV this morning and thought "I remember somebody saying it's all banks and building societies" thinking in individual terms when in fact it is groups. So if you had money in Lloyd's and HBOS and Lloyds goes bust (highly unlikely I must admit) you are only protected to £35k in total and not say £70k. Somebody has mentioned the takeover in this thread.

http://www.completefrance.com/cs/forums/1/1400554/ShowPost.aspx#1400554

[Russethouse]

Yep - if you had spread money around Llloyds, HBOS,  Birmingham Midshires or Intelligent finance, you may need to re shuffle but I suspect Money Saving Expert have better advice on this sort of thing.

[Benjamin]

There is actually a way of getting 100% protection for amounts over £35000 but it involves using your savings account to offset a mortgage with the same finacial institution.

The link below gives the full article which has been lifted from Citywire (a financial news service - no subscription needed).

http://www.citywire.co.uk/personal/-/news/money-property-and-tax/content.aspx?ID=314350&re=3745&ea=161021&Page=1

Sorry you'll have to cut and paste the link unless a Mod can make it clickable.