Life savings with Santander - Erm should I be worried?

[Wherethehellissummer]

We have the bulk of our life savings with Santander in an instant access account.

Should I be panicking and thinking of moving it?

Am worried. Sky news is saying Santander has been sown graded but BBC news is saying that Santander is a subsiduary of a Spanish downgraded bank and making the situation sound alot less serious (than it is).

No indication of what other Santander savers are thinking - are they all moving money today?? If I do move the money I am not sure where to move it too as the other sizable chunck of our savings is with part if the Halifax group and I am aware I should be keeping my savings under a certain amount within anyone group - incase they all go bust at some point and I need to claim my money back - but cannot remember what that amount is.

Really not sure what to do. Thoughts very much appreciated. Am about to go on holiday in weeks time so need to make decisive action now.

Hi I don't know what to do either, I have a current account with them, no savings-should I be worried? or is it just savings that are affected? I am confused. If my current account was emptied we would be right royally fucked as our entire income goes in and out each month, we have no safety net other than the local food bank

this is from the guardian website

"Santander UK, which was downgraded one notch by Moody's last, is stressing this morning that the downgrade won't affect its business.

A spokesman said:

The change to Moody's credit rating of Santander UK plc has no impact on our businesses in the UK or our plans for future growth. Santander UK plc is an autonomous subsidiary of the Santander Group, with more than 90% of its total assets held in the UK and a Eurozone sovereign exposure of less than 1% of assets.

Santander UK is a key player in the British financial sector, having acquired Alliance & Leicester, Abbey National and Bradford and
Bingley. It now has a higher credit rating than its parent company, following Banco Santander's three-notch drubbing."

seems to indicate that we shouldn't be worried but then they would say that wouldn't they

sorry I cant be more helpful, hopefully someone more helpful will be along soon

If you have under £85k then your savings are protected. If you have more than that then you would be wise to split it between different banks.

Marking place as I have savings in a Santander account.

Well I have spoken to a few friends and family today and they seem to think it should be OK as far as anything is OK in the current crap difficult times as like trixymalixy says those with under £85k (thats us) will be protected.

How that actually works in real terms if the bank goes under is another matter worrying me but hey ho! Looking around this morning I am not sure where the hell I could move my money too tbh. Also whilst googling about Santander this morning I found an alarming amount of stories about people trying to close accounts (before the current crisis) finding it near impossible, with refusal to close accounts.

All rather worrying.

I would imagine theycallmemrsboomtastic that current accounts would be protected also (unless you have more than £85k in there ). But wonder logistically how it work with DDMs etc.

Any other concnerned Santander customers here I wonder??? Would love to know what others are thinking and doing.

I am worried that if there is a sudden run of customers withdrawing and closing accounts in panic that we will be up shit creek without a paddle!!

Wherethehellissummer - I notice you have not posted before.

"Any other concnerned Santander customers here I wonder??? Would love to know what others are thinking and doing."

Are you a journalist?

No I have purposely name changed for this thread. I post often on Mumsnet but dont want people who search peoples past posts to know all about me including where I have savings etc etc. Not sure exactly WHY I am so paranoid about this (not a millionaire sadly) but I do feel uncomfortable that some people do search Mumsnet for posters previous posts to build themselves a picture.

I am a bored unemployed housewife at present and deffo not a journalist!

Sorry if I came across that way!

I am worried that if there is a sudden run of customers withdrawing and closing accounts in panic that we will be up shit creek without a paddle!!

Yes people rushing to withdraw all their money is what will f@@k it all up.

I am not worried, I think it will all be fine as long as you have under £85k.

I have current accounts, savings accounts (currently empty) and a mortgage with Santander (not by choice, originally with Abbey and Alliance and Leicester).

More information here

I don't think moving your money right now is necessary.

DH works in money. His maxim is never to have all your eggs in one basket. We have over 20 accounts, I believe.

The Guardian printed an article online an hour ago on this very issue about an hour ago.

All the information you need to know is there.

I'm with the RBS. And it's being taken over shortly by Santander. Have read a few not very good reports on Santander. Really seriously thinking now of moving the current account. Where to not sure. Maybe the Co-op bank or Halifax.

I think a Building Society is the best place for savings if you have a substantial amount. I read they are far more restricted on where they can invest money and therefore not likely to go under. We've absolutely loads of accounts too. Some (Most!) have like £1 and £2 in them. And not been used for years. Probably cost more in petrol or shoe leather to close them down.

Santander UK is entirely separate from Santander in Spain

hee hee if I had 20 accounts there would be about a fiver in each!

Well, Spanish colleague has just told me his family have all moved their money to Switzerland...

We 'lost' money with Icesave in 2008. It was covered retrospectively by the UK government and we got our money back very easily. IIRC the FSCS contacted us and we just had to nominate an account to have the money paid back in to; think we got it back within a few weeks.

I have a current account and savings with Santander and I've been meaning to move the savings for some time since the bonus on the interest came to an end. Today's news has spurred me on to open an acount with ING and I'll be moving the bulk of the savings as soon as the account is up and running. Not sure what I'll do about the current account. I was with Alliance and Leicester for over 25 years before they became Santander but I don't feel any alliance to them. It's all very well being covered by the UK compensation scheme but if you can't physically get at your money for months if the worst happens that's not very reassuring.

\link{https://www.santander.co.uk/csgs/StaticBS?blobcol=urldata&blobheader=application%2Fpdf&blobkey=id&blobtable=MungoBlobs&blobwhere=1223422621468&cachecontrol=immediate&ssbinary=true&maxage=3600\Santander response to Moody's;} the table of all the banks' ratings, on page 2, makes Santander comparable to the others, and

"The ratings of HSBC, Barclays, Lloyds and RBS are under review for downgrade as part of the Moody?s review of European banks."

We haved our mortgage with Santander. (was A&L).

Am hoping that if they go under they will lose our records in all the kerfuffle, and it will be wiped.

Can dream

MarySA- RBS isn't being taken over by Santander, they have just bought some branches... there's no reason you can't continue to bank with RBS.

marking place too

Does the £85k saving coverage limit also apply to insurance companies who have endowment policies or have been taking money for stocks and shares ISAs. I've always wondered if they are covered by the same protection or if there is a different one.

Everything you need to know about the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS)

Well we've had loads of stuff from the RBS and I admit I've not read it. But I thought all branches in England would be taken over by Santander. I don't want to be with Santander in any shape or form.

We have our joint morgage (now down to about £100k) with Santander; does this come as 'safe' savings or are mortgages excluded from this does anyone know??