Banking & Saving FAQ
What our customers say...
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Are my savings with my bank/building society safe?
This has become a very popular question since Icesave the UK internet arm of Landesbanki went bust. The situation at present for all UK authorised banks and building societies is that the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) covers each individual customer for up to a maximum of £50,000 (£100,000 for joint accounts). If you have savings in excess of this amount, you should look to spread them between different providers. You need to be careful as some brands within the same group are not authorised separately, for example Halifax, Bank of Scotland, AA, Birmingham Midshires, Intelligent Finance and Saga all share one FSA authorisation and do not offer a £50,000 guarantee for each brand.
My bank has suggested that I sign up for their "packaged current account" is this a good idea?
Packaged current accounts are basically a standard bank account with a debit card cheque book etc, plus a range of additional products bundled together. The banks like customers to sign up for these accounts as a monthly fee of anything between £10 and £25 per month is payable. The benefits included with these accounts can include travel insurance, car breakdown cover, free will writing service, mobile phone insurance and many more. You need to look at what is being offered and work out if the monthly payments are worthwhile based upon how many of the insurances and add ons you actually use. If you use most of the extras that are offered, you may find it good value for money, however if you don`t use them, then your monthly fee is just money down the drain.
I don`t intend going overdrawn, so is there any point in arranging an overdraft limit on my current account?
Whilst many people don`t intend for their account to dip into the red, it is better to agree a limit on an "in case of need" basis. There is no charge for arranging an overdraft facility and you don`t pay anything unless you actually use it. The interest and charges are much lower than if you go overdrawn without an arrangement where you could easily face charges of £25 - £35 per item plus interest at almost 30%.
