From Eleanor Balston.
WE were heartened to see that the young Grands Vaux couple have had their children’s Christmas saved. Good old Jersey.
We have also been robbed recently — of our life savings. We carefully put our money in a bank in the Isle of Man. It was not only for our children’s Christmas presents but also for their university fees, and it has been stolen! We would also like to see the perpetrators brought to justice.
I don’t think we have much chance of that — it was nicked by the British government. If there are any banks out there who feel moved by our plight in the season of goodwill and have any odd bits of money lying about . . .
1 Abbotsmount,
St John’s Road,
St Helier.
Article posted on 27th November, 2008 - 2.56pm
30 Article Comments
Why were you putting your hard earned cash into a bank in the Isle of Man when we have a proliferation of finance houses here where you live – in Jersey. The lure of unfeasibly high interest rates comes with a price. Just like the old saying about no such thing as a free lunch, there is also no such thing as easy money. I presume that you unwisely invested in a certain Icelandic bank which has gone to the wall recently. If that’s the case then I don’t think that you can blame the British government for stealing your money. UK depositors are protected, not offshore ones.
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Our money was in the Derbyshire Building Society….which was taken over! And the rates of interest were not ‘unfeasably’ high – just slightly more than here and a recommended investment. That’s why. No-one could have foreseen this – find the website if you really are interested, read the ordinary people’s sad stories and feel lucky it’s not you. And yes it’s all declared and taxed.
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And it HAS been stolen by the British government! They’ve frozen it.
I’m not asking for compensation – just our money back.
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Oh I See, You live and work in Jersey, Bank in the Isle of Man and you want the UK Government to protect YOUR savings. Amazing, so the UK Governmemt owe you a living, get real, how much do you actually pay into the UK coffers?
The UK Government is doing all it can to protect the UK investors, their actions are being copied by most sane and sensible governments throughout the world. You have your own Government on Jersey so why don;t you knock on their door and protest, I realise you won;t get any answers because everything in the garden is rosy, isn;t it in Jersey according to your Ministers. They never could see the wood for the trees, still times they are a changing.
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Yes I live and work in Jersey – er is that a crime? Do I have to justify that? How odd.
But I am just an ordinary person – I’ve ended up here after working for many years in the UK as a teacher and I paid tax in the UK.
I AM real – and I want my savings back. It was in a BANK and it’s gone! I don’t expect to be bailed out by anyone – I just want to get to MY hard-earned cash, which still exists but has been frozen by the UK government. Our situation is an injustice and I’m sorry you can’t see that. It’s easy to blame the victim.
As for knocking on the Jersey government’s door – of course I have. They’ve gone deaf. This thing is, I’m afraid, bigger than Jersey. This is only the beginning – who’s looking after your money?
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Surely the Derbyshire BS has been taken over by the Nationwide BS because it got itself into financial difficulties. But the Nationwide is not in trouble, so E Balston’s savings should be perfectly safe, unless of course the Derbyshire BS put the money in an offshore operation in the Isle of Man and the Nationwide is not prepared to take that over. But again, the Nationwide’s offshore operation is in the Isle of Man too. All very confusing. What is clear is that if Jersey residents want to put up to £50k in UK building society accounts to be sure it is protected, they must make sure that the particular society does not then move the money offshore because the depositor lives offshore.
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Of course it is not a crime to live in Jersey, it is your choice.
Having looked at the history of your building society that was taken over the alarm bells should of been ringing in your head months ago. The fact that it was taken over and moved off shore should really have told you something. Had you removed your money on day one you would of saved yourself the agonies what your going through today. Hindsight is a wonderful thing. You still cannot blame the UK government, they have not STOLEN your money, they are trying their very best for the UK depositors – you live on Jersey.
My money – I am not complaining, perfectly happy thankyou.
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How sad to see some readers quick to jump to conclusions about Eleanor’s situation and so unable to show sympathy at what must be a difficult time. I hope that folk like Eleanor do manage to get some recompense for their losses, and that those so quick to criticise her are never so unfortunate to have to suffer the same setback.
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I guess that you invested your money into Derbyshire Offshore, Isle of Man. They were taken over in 2007 by Kaupthing, an Icelandic bank. If you had invested your money before this date you, as an investor, would have received notification of the impending takeover and had the opportunity to withdraw your savings. Your financial advisor who recommended the investment should have also kept you informed of any corporate movement.
Kaupthing are now in receivership. As this is an IoM company the UK government is reluctant to help as the IoM raises its own income and doesn’t contribute directly to the UK tax coffers. Their stance is why should they use UK taxpayers money to bail out non UK companies. The same applies for Channel Islands banks – don’t expect any help from the UK if your local Natwest goes belly up.
This is a very difficult time for you and your family and I wish you the best in the reclamation of your savings.
FI UMMAN ALLAH
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I live in Jersey not on it.
Thanks Stella
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I’ve never seen such spite thrown at someone who has just lost their life savings.
Even if this lady earned a few bps extra on her savings, it’s not as though she put the money on a horse.
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Thank you Terry & Frank for keeping our family so poor that we can never even think of having savings!!!
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Well Eleanor- you have certainly touched a nerve with some people haven’t you? I wish you the best of luck in having your savings refunded and I cannot understand some of the bitterness which comes through some of the previous comments.On a different note- I have not heard the full story of the person who had some very expensive Xmas gifts stolen and then replaced by a well-wisher but would they not have been covered on his/her household insurance.Forgive me if I am missing a vital point but as I no longer live in Jersey I have not read the original article.
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Putting the various comments aside…
This is a lesson we all should be learning.
Until the crunch we all put our savings into accounts not really knowing that our money was not protected for the full amount and then along comes the crunch and then Banks start folding.
The UK Gov have protected the UK banks and so they should.
There are a lot of people affected by this and a very harsh lesson learnt.
If we should be complaining then it should be to the Financial Advisors as they are the ones putting your money in off shore banks with out telling you that they have no compensenation scheme.
I agree with a few comments here that we should not blame the UK Government for this.
I would say to the remaining savers is to move your money to all the countries that offer Compensation.
I have my wages paid into a UK bank but my bills are paid out of a Jersey bank.
If the Bank in Jersey goes belly up, hell they can keep my over draft!
If the Bank in the UK goes belly up then i am covered upto £50k.
Shop around. Lesson Learnt.
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Mark G – How do you open a UK bank account without a UK address?
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Joker:
How do you open an off shore account if you live in the UK?
1) Go to the country and open one.
2) Apply online
3) Financial Advisor
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I had a UK bank account for some years while living in the island.
I went to university and opened an account in the UK. When I moved back to the island I kept the UK account and opened a new Jersey account.
As long as both accounts were well managed and the bank was content that I was not doing anything dishonest they were fine about it.
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To open a UK account you need to be a resident in the UK – that includes applying online. Pip – you obviously found a loophole.
Offshores have different conditions.
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People should realise now if they did not in the past that whatever you do with your money you must make a risk assessment as nothing is risk free, merely a differing risk level. It is conventional wisdom that the safest place to put your money is in to UK Government investments such as National Savings and you will only lose your money if the UK government goes bust.
The quid pro quo for this apparent security is low interest rates; people being greedy by nature tend to opt for higher interest rates offered by banks. It is axiomatic that you never pay more for anything than you have to; therefore ask yourselves why a bank pays high interest rates? It probably does so because it wants your money; in order to pay you high rates the bank must then lend the money to people who are prepared to pay high interest rates and these are often people with poor credit ratings so therefore at higher risk of default.
No one should need to be a financial adviser to work out that there is no such thing as a free lunch and we are all now paying the bill and will do for years to come.
Finally, before you all start sticking your money in foreign banks (UK et al) ask yourself what extra local tax liabilities this may leave you open to.
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To open a UK bank account you need to show recent utility bills with your name and UK address-you can’t just walk into a bank and open an account without proof of being a UK resident.
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Alexa, you forget that Jersey people are UK citizens.
…well as long as it benefits the States!
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Eleanor is not asking the UK government to guarantee her money which is how some people seem to have interpreted her letter (Amanda).
She is merely pointing out that the UK has a freezing order against accounts including hers with a view to recovering as much as it can for itself, potentially at the expense of customers like her who will not be protected by the UK’s guarantees. This is clearly wrong.
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alexa – that’s right. Part of the new anti money laundering rules I believe
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We wish Eleanor the best of luck in getting her money back.What may annoy people is her blaming the uk gov.Was her investment supposed to be risk free?,What is the isle of man doing to help Eleanor?I would invest anywhere i would get 100% guarentee which is not here so dont blame her for not investing here.
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Don’t expect any help from the UK if your local Natwest goes belly up?
NatWest/RBSI is owned by RBS which is a UK institution. Therefore, the UK as the home jurisdiction is liable. The UK took this stance with Iceland.
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Rexel… I do feel for Eleanor and hope she gets her money back but that doesn’t automatically mean that what the UK is doing is wrong.
The banks have behaved appallingly here, not the governments. We need to lay the blame properly at the feet of the people who got fat cat salaries and million pound bonuses for complete incompetence!
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It is nothing to do with the UK Government.
If you want Uk protection, invest witha UK bank, fill in the appropriate form to get the interest credited tax free as a non resident and Robert is your mother’s brother.
For many years I had an account with A&L and filled in a declaration every year that I was a non uk tax payer.
You just have to provide proof that tax has been paid on the interest in Jersey.
I wonder if it was that last bit that puts some people off?
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Mark – how are we UK citizens if we’re not part of the UK?
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OJ has enlightened me!
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“I live in Jersey not on it.” – Eleanor
Oh how very adult of you. Rather than try to keep the discussion civilised (a discussion on your own circumstances I might add!) you resort to picking on grammar.
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