RSS FeedQ&A: How to save safely
By Laura Starkey
Last year, the collapse of several major financial institutions caused thousands of people to ask: how safe are my savings? Now, another building society's brush with disaster and Santander's decision to rebrand its British banks raise new questions about who we can trust with our rainy day funds.
Just a few short years ago, it might have seemed inconceivable that a bank or building society could collapse.
Sadly, we all know better these days. Since the start of the credit crunch, the demise of big name institutions including Northern Rock, Lehman Brothers, Kaupthing Edge, Icesave and Bradford & Bingley has seriously shaken people's confidence.
This month, West Bromwich Building Society managed to reach a deal with creditors and preserve its independence after intense speculation that it would need to be broken up or bailed out by the taxpayer. However, the society's brush with disaster acts as a timely reminder that it's too early to assume our financial institutions are 100% stable.
What's more, Spanish bank Santander's decision to re-brand Abbey, Alliance & Leicester and Bradford and Bingley – all British banks it has purchased during the downturn – has implications for how much cash new customers will be able to stash in their savings accounts.
So, what's the latest on how to keep your savings safe?
1. What protection is in place for savers?First of all, it's important to be aware that not all kinds of savings are protected by the government. In this article, I'm going to explain the rules surrounding cash savings in bank accounts, building society accounts and ISAs – but if you hold investments, a pension or have a life insurance policy, you can find out about what protection you're entitled to by visiting the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) website, www.fscs.org.uk.
As far as ordinary savers are concerned, the FSCS offers £50,000 worth of protection per individual, per financial institution.
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Hank Hill asks a girl from Bradford amp; Bingley if she understands the meaning of love. The quest for a tap and die and some WD-40 continues ...
Bradford And Bingley Life Insurance- News
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The Business Matrix: Wednesday 01 February 2012 The Independent table border=0 cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7 style=vertical-align:top;trtd width=80 align=center valign=topfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serif/font/tdtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbr /div style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1 //divdiv class=lha href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNH8ok-vGa5QcZM9F11Vsxg73JHu1Aamp;url=http://www.independent.co.uk/i/matrix/the-business-matrix-wednesday-01-february-2012-6297710.htmlbThe Business Matrix: Wednesday 01 February 2012/b/abr /font size=-1bfont color=#6f6f6fThe Independent/font/b/fontbr /font size=-1Santander — the Spanish-owned UK bank formed from former building societies Abbey, Alliance amp; Leicester and bBradford/b amp; bBingley/b — saw profits plunge 40 per cent last year after it was hit by a £538m charge for mis-selling payment protection binsurance/b./fontbr /font size=-1 class=p/fontbr /font class=p size=-1a class=p href=http://news.google.com/news/more?pz=1amp;ned=usamp;ncl=dgaL3PMjfh385vMnobrb/b/nobr/a/font/div/font/td/tr/table |
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Newspaper Briefing, including Facebook to make billions for founders and 1000 ... Proactive Investors UK table border=0 cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7 style=vertical-align:top;trtd width=80 align=center valign=topfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serif/font/tdtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbr /div style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1 //divdiv class=lha href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNGdF3FOYggl7cEh02XKZ55NkEcdxQamp;url=http://www.proactiveinvestors.co.uk/columns/guardian-cfd-s-newspaper-briefing/8198/newspaper-briefing-including-facebook-to-make-billions-for-founders-and-1000-millionaires-in-record-sell-off-the-times-8198.htmlbNewspaper Briefing, including #39;Facebook to make billions for founders and 1000 b/b/b/abr /font size=-1bfont color=#6f6f6fProactive Investors UK/font/b/fontbr /font size=-1The company, which started blife/b as a project in a university dormitory, filed for an initial public offering of shares (IPO) worth $5 billion, and is on track to become the biggest technology stock market debut in history. Lloyds Chief to take away 5 b/b/fontbr /font size=-1 class=p/fontbr /font class=p size=-1a class=p href=http://news.google.com/news/more?pz=1amp;ned=usamp;ncl=d-Q2RspZ2zY4zxMnobrb/b/nobr/a/font/div/font/td/tr/table |
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And so, farewell to the FSA Financial News table border=0 cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7 style=vertical-align:top;trtd width=80 align=center valign=topfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifa href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNGpIS5Of3jYjWvZvwEEcHRG72damAamp;url=http://www.efinancialnews.com/story/2012-01-09/and-so-farewell-to-fsaimg src=//nt0.ggpht.com/news/tbn/pMmR0aHhpecxnM/6.jpg alt= border=1 width=80 height=80 /br /font size=-2Financial News/font/a/font/tdtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbr /div style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1 //divdiv class=lha href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNGpIS5Of3jYjWvZvwEEcHRG72damAamp;url=http://www.efinancialnews.com/story/2012-01-09/and-so-farewell-to-fsabAnd so, farewell to the FSA/b/abr /font size=-1bfont color=#6f6f6fFinancial News/font/b/fontbr /font size=-1Within days of becoming chairman, Turner and Sants were helping to put together the largest banking bailout in British history, pumping £500bn into RBS, Lloyds and HBOS and organising the nationalisation of bBradford/b amp; bBingley/b. Under political pressure b/b/fontbr /font size=-1 class=p/fontbr /font class=p size=-1a class=p href=http://news.google.com/news/more?pz=1amp;ned=usamp;ncl=dFYdoOC8FfnwsRMnobrband morenbsp;raquo;/b/nobr/a/font/div/font/td/tr/table |
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Can Lloyds minutiae man assure the City hes still in charge? The Independent table border=0 cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7 style=vertical-align:top;trtd width=80 align=center valign=topfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serif/font/tdtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbr /div style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1 //divdiv class=lha href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNFFsHvY4YXXeEy_SX5uGGtx7KSTtwamp;url=http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/analysis-and-features/can-lloyds-minutiae-man-assure-the-city-hes-still-in-charge-6286482.htmlbCan Lloyds#39; minutiae man assure the City he#39;s still in charge?/b/abr /font size=-1bfont color=#6f6f6fThe Independent/font/b/fontbr /font size=-1quot;At Santander, he put several big acquisitions – bBradford/b amp; bBingley/b, Alliance amp; Leicester – through quickly without having to take month or two off. He probably just worked himself too hard this time.quot; If he can convince the market that he is fully b/b/fontbr /font size=-1 class=p/fontbr /font class=p size=-1a class=p href=http://news.google.com/news/more?pz=1amp;ned=usamp;ncl=doW11HoLTkXHHUMnobrband morenbsp;raquo;/b/nobr/a/font/div/font/td/tr/table |
