Has Icesave gone bust?

I've just been told that Icesave has gone bust and they've frozen all savings accounts. I am very worried as I have £30,000 in a savings account with Icesave. Will I get my money back and how do I go about getting it back. Please help.

Jade,

Icesave’s parent company, Landsbanki, has today been taken over by the Icelandic government to stop it collapsing.

Your savings in Icesave are protected up to the first £50,000. UK customers of Icesave are likely to have to claim compensation for their savings deposits in Icesave.

My blog gives more information on how to make a claim:

Icesave - are my savings safe

What about Kaupthing Edge?

They're an Icelandic bank as well aren't they?

Does this mean that Kaupthing are likely to be nationalised as well then?

Kaupthing are a UK bank, with deposits held in the UK. They are fully regulated by the FSA and if they did go the same way as Icesave/Landsbanki, you would only have to make one claim for compensation through the Financial Services Compensation Scheme.

With Kaupthing your funds are deposited with Kaupthing Edge, which is a UK bank and regulated by the FSA here in the UK and your deposits are permanently held here in the UK.

Sigurdur Einarsson, chairman of Kaupthing, says the bank is " strong and well-diversified" with 70% of its business outside of Iceland. However, Iceland’s central bank has loaned €0.5 billion euros to Kaupthing to help it improve its liquidity levels.

What happens if the Icelandic savings deposit protection scheme can't meet its liabilities with regards to paying out the first €20,000 odd of UK savers' claims???

I hear the Russians have propped up the Icelandic economy with a loan of €4bn.

If Iceland goes bust, then there won't be any money to pay the first €20,887.

The Financial Services Compensation Scheme only pays out anything in excess of the first €20,887. So if you had £50,000 with Icesave you may only get back £33,767 (£50,000 - £16,223).

Is it therefore best to stick to UK banks where all of your £50k is covered by the financial services compensation scheme?

 where will it all end i wonder

I have £8000 in an icesave ISA account,
when my money is refunded from them can it still put it back into an isa account or will it loose its isa status

With regards to you existing ISA account with icesave, once your money has been refunded you should be able to transfer the funds into and existing ISA account.

I have provided below links to our site, so that you can view either the Best Buy “Cash ISA's accepting transfers in” accounts or use the search facility to enter your own personal details in the “Transfer an Existing ISA account” section

http://www.moneyfacts.co.uk/savings/bestbuys/default.aspx

http://www.moneyfacts.co.uk/searches/savings.aspx

I have an ISA with Icesave which is in liquidation as of yesterday. can I therefore open an ISA with another institution? please advise.

You are only permitted to open one ISA account per tax year. If you have opened the Icesave account in a previous tax year then you would only be permitted to open an account with another provider if you have paid no money into the account this tax year.

Normally you are able to transfer funds between providers but you will need to contact Icesave to establish what this position is in this case.

I have, or rather had, an icesave bond which unfortunately wasn't due to mature until november. Earlier this year I tried to take the money out of this bond and accept the losses in interest. I was unable to do this as I was told this bond could not be touched at all until maturity. Is this corrct and legal?

I've checked this with our Savings Research Team and they have informed me that it is legal. The terms and conditions of the bond state no withdrawals or earlier access is permitted, which is common with fixed rate bonds. That's why the rates can be so high. Not sure what position is now re. Icesave being taken over by the Icelandic Authorities, so it might be worth contacting the Financial Services Compensation Scheme - here's the link:

http://www.fscs.org.uk/

According to various reports, it appears that Iceland has no funds in its compensation scheme to repay UK savers with Icesave.

Alistair Darling has just stated on television that although Icesave is a foreign bank, and there was therefore no obligation to cover the deposits, because we are in exceptional times the government will now step in and cover deposits of up to £50,000.