My wife and I, having been born in Guernsey, with grandparents who worked in the growing industry, were certainly not born with silver spoons in our mouths, but through no fault of our own have unfortunately been caught up in the Landsbanki fiasco.

I am lady of 73, still working part time. I was born in the UK and lived there for 66 years.  I moved here to marry a Channel Islander, not to avoid tax.

Until Landsbanki Guernsey Ltd. went into Administration, I was hoping to retire very soon and concentrate on my voluntary work. I have nearly £50,000 at risk – a substantial part of my savings. I was not born with a silver spoon – I worked hard for all of it.

I am Guernsey, born and bred, and have worked extremely hard to try and live within my means and keep out of debt.

I opened my account with Cheshire Guernsey Limited quite a few years ago. Having had insurance companies which have changed their name several times over the course of their lives, I thought no more about it when I got this letter in 2006 saying that the bank was changing to Landsbanki Guernsey Limited. After all, it was a Guernsey company, run in Guernsey, regulated in Guernsey and paying tax to Guernsey, so no problem...?

John and Jane are Landsbanki depositors from St. Peter Port, and this is their story;

Neither John nor Jane came from wealthy backgrounds; their parents were ordinary Guernsey folk who instilled a strong work ethic in their children. 

I am a 97 year-old depositor and I live alone in my own home, where I have lived for 53 years. I couldn’t believe what was happening when I read in the Guernsey Press that my bank, Landsbanki, had gone into administration, as I had always thought that Guernsey was a safe place to put your money. All of my life savings were in the Bank.

I have always believed in Building Societies, I can remember as a child going with my mother every Saturday with our passbook into the local office in Nantwich, and that has stayed with me throughout my adult life; whenever possible I would try to put some savings away.

I will be 90 years old this year.  My late husband and I have lived in Guernsey for over 40 years, and both worked for the States of Guernsey. Our children and grandchildren have been brought up here, and Guernsey is our home. 

My deposit in Landsbanki represented a large proportion of my lump sum pension from the States of Guernsey.

I am just an ordinary guy who moved to Guernsey in 1982 with three children under 5 years of age, in order to make a new life for us all. Both my wife and I had professional nursing qualifications and subsequently went on to work for the States of Guernsey in Mental Health Services and Learning Disability Services.