In light of the current financial situation, the UK has raised its Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) limit from £35,000 to £50,000 in an attempt to reassure savers. The FSCS guarantees deposits of up to £50,000 for savers per financial institution, so if you have savings of more than £50,000, it is important to spread your money between institutions in order that your savings are guaranteed.
You should be aware though that the guarantee is per financial institution, not per account; banks that share the same Financial Services Authority (FSA) registration number count as one financial institution. The table below shows banks and building societies whose savings arm share the same FSA registration number:
|
1 |
Halifax |
Bank of Scotland |
Birmingham Midshires |
Saga |
The AA |
Intelligence |
|
2 |
Lloyds TSB |
Cheltenham & Gloucester |
|
|
|
|
|
3 |
Royal Bank of Scotland |
Direct Line |
|
|
|
|
|
4 |
Abbey |
Cahoot |
Bradford and Bingley |
ASDA |
|
|
|
5 |
HSBC |
First Direct |
|
|
|
|
|
6 |
The Co-op |
Smile |
|
|
|
|
|
7 |
Yorkshire Bank |
Clydesdale Bank |
|
|
|
|
|
8 |
Bank of Ireland |
Post Office |
|
|
|
|
|
9 |
Barclays |
Woolwich |
|
|
|
|
|
10 |
Newcastle BS |
BMW Savings |
|
|
|
|
Those brands whose savings arm sharing the same FSA Registration number (and the same colour in this table) have the same FSA license as one another, which means that although you are guaranteed the first £50,000 of savings with each bank or building society, if, for example, you have £50,000 saved with Abbey and £50,000 saved with Cahoot, due to the fact that these two brands share the same FSA registration number, only the first £50,000 would be guaranteed. If instead you had £50,000 saved with Abbey and £50,000 saved with Lloyds TSB, the entire £100,000 would be guaranteed.
There are, however, some anomalies. For example, even though Scottish Widows Bank is owned by Lloyds TSB, they have separate FSA registration numbers so are covered separately by the FSCS.