Santander

[smurfchops]

This is my bank and I have a salary going in every month, I have a 123 account and an ISA with them. Should I need to worry, what with the Spanish financial crisis, and if it all goes belly up, will the Government pay me back everything in the account - which is way under £85,000 by the way but still a lot to me !! If it comes to this, how long does it take to get money back?

[boxtops]

I understood that Santander UK is a separate bank registered in the UK, in which case it would surely come under UK banking rules?

[dotty.]

yeah it's santander name but abbey or bradford and bingley really, mine was bradford and bingley, all the same staff too.

[237SJ]

Santander in this country is covered by the UK Government guarantee.

[dzug2]

It does come under UK banking rules

I don't think anyone knows how long it would take to pay out under the compensation rules - I don't think it's been tested in earnest. Probably not instantaneous

It is - legally - an entirely separate entity, so <<shouldn't>> be affected even if the Spanish parent flops

[boxtops]

Dotty's right, I had a B&B account which was taken over by Abbey then taken over by Santander.

[dotty.]

my b&b went straight to santander, my daughter was with abbey and her's changed to santander, but mine never changed to abbey at all.

[dotty.]

before mine was B&B it was the Burnley as well, that's going back 20 odd years though.

[smurfchops]

Yes I still call it the Abbey (its easier). But i wondered if Santander runs out of money in Spain will they take the English money??

[dzug2]

Why should it matter if they (whoever they are) do? You are still protected.

[Dodger666]

You have no reason to worry smurfchops. In the unlikely event Santander UK go belly up you will get your money back after a short while. I had an Icelandic ISA when they went bust but I got my money back from the FSCS but I can't remember how long it took. It wasn't too long.

The money you have in the ISA will be refunded along with a certificate saying it's ISA money to enable you put it all into another ISA with another provider.