Saturday 22 November 2008

Randombankness

I think maybe I should explain my last post a little lest my adoring fans readers think I was up for sympathy. I'm not a "victim" of over-borrowing or anything like that. I was brought up to believe that if you can't afford it, you can't have it, so the only loan I've ever had was a mortgage (fortunately paid off a few years ago, thanks to my lovely Auntie J, who told me she thought the money she was going to leave me in her will would be more useful to me then rather than later).



No, my anger was about the irresponsibility of the banks and how I (and probably most citizens of the world) can't trust them any more. The thing is, the British Government has guaranteed an individual's cash (savings plus current account etc.) in any one bank up to £50,000, so if you've got more than that in your bank and it goes tits up bankrupt, hard cheese, you lose the rest. So my darling Mum died just over four years ago and me being her only child, she left me all her worldly goods, including her flat. There were complications in the sale (which I won't bore you with) and the proceeds were less than the flat's worth (::dah di dah, di dah di dah:: sang the violins) so it was only a few months ago I received the proceeds of sale. I put them in a savings account in my bank, as you do... They were more than £50,000...

A few weeks later I get a phone call from my bank. To put it shortly, it goes something like this: "Have you got short-term plans for this money?" "Possibly." "We have several packages which could ensure you... blah, blah, blah..." "Thanks, I'll just leave it where it is for now please and thank you."

A week or two later I get another call, ditto the above. By now I've heard stirrings about the possibility of the "Credit Crunch"
not just affecting bad debtors and stupid, greedy American banks, but stupid, greedy British banks as well. "No," I thought, "I'm not looking for a loan and I don't owe nobody nuffink, so I'm probably okay". "How safe are my accounts?" I ask. "Oh, safe as houses, we are part of one of the biggest banks in Europe, there's no way we are in any trouble. But we can offer you a package that will give you a greater return on your investment blah, blah, blah..." "Well, I'm thinking of buying a bungalow or having my current house improved to make it safer for me as I can't see very well so I don't want this money tied up for yonks" "Okay, no problem, let us know if we can be of any... blah, blah, blah...".

Then the news comes that the bank who owns m
y bank has been bailed out by the government. Bearing in mind that only last year my bank, let alone the bank who owns it, declared net profits of, I think, approximately £10 billion, I'm stunned!

This has become a very long and probably extremely interesting boring shaggy dog story account so I'll leave it for now, but:






Still to come in a forthcoming episode (da dah!):

What I Learnt at the Bank!!!



15 comments:

Anonymous said...

This is truly awful you must be tearing your hair out. It's absolutely disgusting the way these banks have behaved and treated their customers (still do probably). Your story is not boring, its scary and very worrying for you.
Give them hell B.C. Take Care.
GG x

Babs (Beetle) said...

It doesn't effect me at all but, would it be prudent to split your money and use two different banks? You could make sure that none are over £50,000 that way.

That may be a stupid suggestion, but we have always had a few bank accounts and use each differently.

Just a thought :O)

Daisy said...

It might be safest to put your moneys into a piggy bank! A real BIG piggy bank.

The Oceanside Animals said...

Hmm, when the government comes looking for your money to help bail out more banks, the piggy bank will be the first place they look. Hide it under a loose floorboard instead!

Gemini and Ichiro said...

My father left me money in a trust. I get some each year until I am 72 which is the average life expectancy of a woman so that is how the company worked the payouts. Anyway whenever I get some, I am asked to invest by my bank... and then for months after when the balance looks nice they ask again and again and again...

I want to scream: If I wanted to invest I would tell you! Do you notice I've been a customer here for over 30 years?! Well, at least with the bank you USED to be? I know what services you offer!!!

Boy n Beethoven said...

Well, I don't know much about all these marnies thingey, but I gets mine Mummy to invest ALL her marnies on our crunchy goodness, stinky goodness, nice toys, soft beds and yummy treats. I think that is the safest.

'Oven

Anonymous said...

Wells, the way Momma sees it our bloggies are like our diaries in a wayz, just not all the juicy stuffs..
O My Goodness Momma had to get her very own blog just to vent about things, so we very much like to see you venting.
We can not understand it here either, it's annoying that they make record profits YET still need government money to bail them out..
It's just annoying, where did all those "profits" go eh?
We are not in your predicament so we are not as panicked. However we can only imagine how you must feels.
There is really nothing safe anymore.. even property.. the council can come in a declare the land needed and buy it from you at a third of the price.

V-V

Christine and FAZ said...

Thank goodness we cats don't need bank accounts. FAZ

MaoMao said...

(((((((huggies))))))), Black Cat. Momma agrees with you 100% about the greedy banks and their icky pracktices!

We Ballicai love Daisy's suggestshun fur a Piggy Bank! :)

Kittyhugs and purrs from MaoMao.

Lux said...

I like Daisy's piggybank idea!

Dr Tweety of da Fab Five said...

Mebbe if you toldz da bank dats my dadee will comez oevfur dere across da pond & givez dem a big lesson on piggy banks... dey would run in da other direcshun wit dere callz.
I will contem-plate my achshunz... I haz considered sendin' your bank a deposit of hairballz I haz saved fur da leatsee year, but I yam afraid dey haz losted some of dere value.
Love,
Dr Tweety

The Cat Realm said...

Our staff agrees about the horrible greed of bank, corporations, companies, and their irresponsibility! They (the staff) are not worried as they are so poor they don't even HAVE money in the bank, hahahahahahaha! But seeing how most everybody here spent on credit, and more credit - it was inevitable that something was going to happen.
In the long run things might get better if societies honor real values like education, art, community and all that "old fashioned" stuff again instead of material things and buying more and more. You can't take it with you!
And until then - the REAL piggy bank under the floorboard might not be the worst idea, hahahahahaha

Lux said...

Hi - Mom says if you could just switch sides of faces, at least one of you would feel good! ;-)

She hopes you're feeling better soon. Hers is coming and going (mostly coming when the ibuprofen wears off).

Anonymous said...

I agree with you 100%!!!

One kiss from Spain.

weechuff said...

How scary for you! I am waiting to hear - what did you learn at the bank?