Is our €400,000 with An Post as safe as it could be?

Q& A: Q My husband and I, both in our 70s, have about €400,000 invested in An Post certs and bonds. Is it a good idea to leave it there after September 2010, or would we be well advised to move out the approximately €120,000 due to mature before that date? Ms K.R., Dublin

A An Post does not come under the bank guarantee scheme – although its Postbank joint venture with Fortis does. Rather, An Post savings certificates and savings bonds are covered by a separate and long-standing absolute State guarantee.

The upside for you is that the guarantee on your savings is not limited to the end of September 2010, or to the deadline of any extended guarantee. The only threat to your guarantee would arise if the State were to default on its debt which, despite the market jitters this week in the wake of worries about potential default in Dubai and Greece, remains a very unlikely scenario.

In the current environment, your money is probably as safe or safer in the post office than it would be anywhere else.

Crest accounts

Q I thought you might be interested to know that I contacted Davy (with whom we have a nominee share account) and was told that it is not possible to do as you suggested.

Before I spend more time on this I thought I would ask you if indeed it is possible to have Crest personal membership through a broker in Ireland and if so would you know which ones?

Ms U.K., e-mail

A This is a significant issue, particularly for people who are used to holding their shares in paper form – ie by way of share certificate. In general, these are small scale, often slightly older, retail investors. They see the certificate as giving them direct physical ownership of the shares and appreciate being kept in the loop through communications on dividends, company events, funding calls etc.

They don’t particularly care about the anonymity conferred by nominee accounts, and don’t like the fact that they transfer day-to-day control of their holding to their stockbroker.

Crest Personal Membership is a way of doing this while still fulfilling the general trend in stock exchanges of moving ownership away from paper certificates and onto an electronic platform.

As I said previously, Crest Personal Membership gives the individual shareholder control in the same way as a share certificate would – the one difference being that the shareholding is held electronically by the brokers.

As you say, not all brokers in the Irish market offer Crest Personal Membership. Still, most do, as I found when I rang the main houses this week. Goodbody does (for online accounts), as do Merrion, Dolmen, Campbell O’Connor and Fexco.

As you point out, Davy, which is the biggest player in the market, does not. Nor, I am told, does NCB, another of the larger houses. The situation with Bloxham is unclear.

Ulster Bank debit card

Q I’ve just received a letter from Ulster Bank telling me they “. . . will soon replace your Laser Card with an Ulster Bank Visa Debit Card . . .”.

What are they up to? What’s the catch, and, more particularly, what’s the cost?

Mr G.Mc.D, Dublin

A I suppose it’s a sign of the time that the first instinct we have upon receiving a missive from a bank is “What are they up to?” Given their recent track performance, I don’t suppose they are in a position to claim they are misunderstood.

However, in this case, it appears there is no great conspiracy behind the move. Of course, we here in Ireland are very familiar with Laser. Especially for those who prefer not to live on credit, it provides a debit card option that allows us access to our accounts both via ATMs and in stores when paying for purchases.

However, it is not quite so accommodating when we travel abroad. While those cards carrying the Maestro or Cirrus symbols can be used for drawing down cash via ATMs when travelling, laser cards cannot be used at store tills.

This has the disadvantage of forcing people to carry more cash around on them than they might be comfortable with – especially if spending much of their time on the beach or the ski slopes.

Ulster Bank tells me the switch to Visa Debit is designed precisely to get around this problem. The Visa Debit card can be used at ATMs and stores both here and abroad.

The catch? There doesn’t seem to be any. Ulster Bank tells me people can either apply for the new card now or wait until their current laser card expires. There will be no change to their PIN number as a result of the switch.

The cost? I am assured that in terms of stamp duty and transaction charges, costs of the Visa debit card are precisely the same as those for your laser card.

NPPR exemption

Q I wonder are you right about this NPPR levy? My son is resident in the UK, owns a house in Dublin which is let, and was told by his taxation adviser that he is liable.

She still holds to that opinion, and having gone to the NPPR website it looks to me as if she is right. I wonder would you mind looking at the issue again? It would obviously be very nice for my son if he could reclaim the €200 which he has paid.

Mr P.K., Dublin

A As we see out the old year (this being the last Business This Week of 2009), I hope we can finally put the non-principal private residence (NPPR) charge issue to bed.

Part of the problem with the NPPR is its interpretation by local authorities. It was, of course, originally designed as a charge on second homes. However, it does appear as though people could find themselves liable to the charge even if they own only one property in the State – if they predominantly reside abroad.

On that basis, it is likely that your son will not be in a position to retrieve his €200.

Please send your queries to Dominic Coyle, QA, The Irish Times, 24-28 Tara Street, Dublin 2 or by e-mail to dcoyle@irishtimes.com. This column is a reader service and is not intended to replace professional advice.