bullion vault

[h4rdware]

dickens1 - There is a section on their site, which covers the ownership rights in case of business failure. So it's not as if they haven't thought about it. They should have been able to tell you a lot more about the process.

The gold would be handled as 'bailment' which means it's owned by the customer, not on the company balance sheet. The public daily audit keeps the ownership list honest. The procedure would however involve an appointed liquidator who has to get the bailment property to the correct owners. The liquidator can't sell the stuff off to pay losses for example, because it's not owned by the failed company.

Any unused cash in the account is not handled as bailment but rather in a segregated Lloyds bank account.

It's normal that they wouldn't be able to give you a liquidator name now, because those aren't appointed ahead of time - it happens a company becomes insolvent. They should however be able to advise you on how to keep on top of what's going on - i.e. provide details of an appointed representative for non-UK residents.

Sounds like you dealt with an idiot, or more than one idiot. Although that itself is a bit of a worry. They should be well prepared for questions like that. :-o

http://www.bullionvault.com/help/?FAQs/FAQs_safety.html#Bailments and business failure

 

[dickens1]

(Regarding checking my banks financial background)-

I suppose the fact that my bank is state guaranteed and if the state can pay the deposits with the help of the ECB,
at least I have the knowledge that there are procedures in place in case of failure.

Maybe there aren’t any contact procedures you can have in place in the event of a receiver coming in.
But it would be very worrying if the gold company went bust and you had to wait around to find out what to do next.