I understand the frustration of Latestmug, a lot of people will be angry and that anger will be directed at Icesave and others. Moneysupermarket endeavours to compare the whole market. Our spokespeople frequently recommend keeping savings balances up the safety limit, in articles on the site and in our Rate Alerts, provided by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme and I hope Latestmug will not lose any money.

We already know that getting through to the FSCS is a nightmare. We'll do our best to keep users up to date.

FSCS Statement below on Icesave.

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

I think everyone is panicking a bit early and we all need more information before making our next move.

The British Government will not sit back while 300,000 UK residents try to claim several billion back from a bankrupt non EU country.

I knew when I invested my £20k in Icesave that the annual Iceland GDP was £6bn but the banks had about 12 times that in combined assets and although not sustainable a mixture of intrigue and avarice stopped me transferring the money elsewhere.

I also believe its extremely poor form for posters on here to blame Moneysupermarket and the best buy tables for their current predicament. The decision to invest with Icesave was mine alone, like everyone else, so I have to accept that responsibility and take it on the chin if it all goes down the drain.

What we must remember is we don't have the full facts without which we cannot make an informed decision. Lets wait and see. I also think it was extremely risky to try and transfer anything out over the last 3-4 days as that money may well have found itself disappearing fast down a big black hole. I'm staying put with my £20k and hope the FCS get their fingers out and protect our assets.

Good luck one and all.

Hello Graeme,

I hope you can navigate my wife and I through this Icesave nightmare? We have a Mini Cash ISA with that bank and have been frantic with worry since we saw the BBC news today.

I have tried various sources to obtain a definitive answer as to whether our small savings are safe or will be lost? They are our total life savings (having had my company pension 'stolen' in a Maxwell scam). We now exist on our combined state pensions and saved hard over the past few years to create an account that would be sufficient for funeral costs.

If you can help us sleep tonight, we would be grateful.

Thank you

Mr & Mrs BWF

Pray tell, ICESAVE is still shown on your site. When will it be removed? I agree that the investor has the final choice. However, a site such as yours that is well regarded should have some accountability. Otherwise your use is very limited. Are you saying look but take no notice? You no doubt obtained an introduction fee?

The legal term that springs to mind here is 'caveat emptor' - buyer beware. We all need to do due diligence in everything we buy (not just an investment product) and sites like moneysupermarket.com give us a head start by providing lots of very relevant info in one place (e.g. the 'Who's who' article is something I'd been struggling to get out of the FSA in a digestable format for months). This site provides facts - it doesn't advise or sell (adverts & sponsored products are clearly labelled as such). The decision to take up a product and its encumbent risk are all ours.

HI Latestmug,

I really have to echo conmankiller's thoughts here. We absolutely reject the criticism that it is somehow "our fault" that you or others have invested in Icesave.

We try to show all properly UK authorised and regulated saving providers in our savings channel. Those with the highest rates are shown at the top, in accordance with our Customer Promise.

Icesave and Heritable Bank have had extremely competitive rates for some time and were recommended by a great many people, not just us.

Our advice has been extremely consistent – be aware of the compensation limit and spread your money around to protect your savings. Regular readers of these forums will know that there has been an ongoing debate for many months on the relative safety of Icelandic Banks and we have consistently returned to this point on many occasions in an attempt to clarify the situation.

Icesave is just one of a series of institutions that have got into trouble – Northern Rock, HBOS, B&B, A&L for example.

In these un-precedented times, I'm afraid we really aren't able to predict which financial institution is going to get into trouble. We certainly don't want to see any of our customers lose any money, but it's surely the banking system and regulatory authorities that have failed us all - at a time when we needed them most.

Whilst I and others will have sympathy for anyone losing money, you cannot seriously hold a money comparison site responsible for your actual choice of where you finally invested your money.

The ultimate choice was yours.... not this site, where you invested your money once all the interest rates were put on public display for comparison purposes only was totally your choice in the end, you really need to look into your inner-self for someone to blame for your decision if you're looking for a scapegoat. !

What is particulary galling is that I invested in ICESAVE after it appeared top of the list of savings products shown on the Moneysupermarket website. Now you are providing information as though you were totally blameless without mentioning of course that you were probably responsible for thousands of people putting their money into this company in the first place. And yes I know all about the fact that you're not regulated and can't give financial advice - it doesn't help. What I can say is - it's the last time I pay any attention to anything you've got to say