How to Keep Savings Above the FSCS Limit Covered

The Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) protects money in UK banks, building societies and credit unions up to £120,000 per eligible person, per authorised firm. That limit rose from £85,000 on 1 December 2025¹. If you hold more than that with one bank, the excess is unlikely to be covered if the bank fails.

The limit is not per account. It applies across all your accounts with the same banking licence, so several accounts with one bank, or with brands that share a licence, count together towards a single £120,000². Joint accounts get more: each named holder is protected up to £120,000, so a joint account with two holders is covered up to £240,000³.

The practical answer for larger savings is to spread money across banks and building societies that hold separate licences, keeping no more than £120,000 with each. This page explains how the limit works, how joint accounts and children's accounts are treated, how to check which licence your account sits under, and what happens to anything above the limit.

Is the £120,000 limit per account or per person?

It is per person, per banking licence. The FSCS states that its deposit protection limit is £120,000 per eligible person, per eligible firm¹. If you hold a current account and a savings account with the same bank, both count towards the same £120,000, not £120,000 each².

This is the single most common misunderstanding about FSCS protection. People who hold several accounts with one bank often assume each account carries its own limit. It does not. The FSCS protects up to £120,000 in total across all accounts you hold, either in your name or where you are listed as the beneficiary⁸.

The £120,000 figure applies only to deposits and savings. The FSCS protects a range of financial products, each with its own compensation limit, and the limits for investments, insurance and mortgages are set separately⁹. If you hold investments through a platform alongside cash savings, those are counted under different rules.

For a small business account, the position depends on the legal structure. If the business is a separate legal entity, such as a limited company or LLP, it could claim up to £120,000 for each account, separate from any personal account with the same bank³.

Joint accounts: up to £240,000 for two holders

A joint account with two holders is protected up to £240,000 in total, because each named holder is protected up to £120,000³. The Bank of England confirms that a joint account with two holders would be protected up to £240,000⁵.

The FSCS protection checker assumes a joint account with two account holders, each with an equal share⁶. If the split is not equal, the protection follows each holder's actual share.

There is a catch when you hold both individual and joint accounts with the same bank. The FSCS states that if you have an individual account and a joint account within the same banking group, the £120,000 limit applies across all these accounts, not to each separately⁶. So your individual savings and your half-share of the joint account count together towards your £120,000 personal limit.

Spreading savings across separately licensed banks and building societies

You can protect more than £120,000 by spreading it among deposit takers with different firm reference numbers (FRNs), keeping no more than £120,000 with each⁶. Each separately authorised bank or building society carries its own £120,000 limit per person.

The FSCS gives a worked example for someone with £300,000 to protect: £120,000 in Nationwide Building Society (FRN 106078) would be fully protected, with the remainder placed with other separately licensed institutions⁶.

Building societies work the same way as banks for FSCS purposes. The FSCS protects money in banks and building societies, covering up to £120,000 for each person¹⁰. A building society is a mutual organisation owned by its members rather than shareholders, but its deposit protection is identical¹⁰.

Credit unions are also covered. Deposits up to £120,000 are protected by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme¹¹. The same £120,000 per person limit applies across all accounts you hold with a credit union¹².

Only money held by UK branches of authorised banks and building societies is protected⁷. If you hold an account with an overseas bank that does not have a UK branch operating under UK authorisation, the FSCS may not cover it.

Where a single limit covers more than one brand

Many high street brands are owned by the same parent firm and share one banking licence. When that happens, accounts under different brands owned by the same firm are still only protected up to £120,000 in total⁵.

This catches people out because the brands look separate on the high street. First direct, for example, states that any total deposits held above the FSCS compensation limit between its brands are unlikely to be covered¹³. Virgin Money gives the same warning for deposits across Nationwide and Virgin Money brands¹⁴. Lloyds Bank states that the FSCS protects up to £120,000 of eligible money held with it¹⁵.

The rule is that if you have money in multiple accounts with multiple banks that are part of the same banking group and share a banking licence, they are treated as one bank, with the £120,000 limit applying across all accounts³. If a current account and a savings account share one FRN or authorisation number, they are classed as a single firm and the £120,000 limit is shared across both¹⁶.

Platforms that spread cash across several banks handle this for you. AJ Bell states that where more than one bank is covered by the same banking licence, the FSCS covers a total of £120,000 across all those banks¹⁷. True Potential states that savings can be spread across different banks and receive up to £120,000 of protection per bank¹⁸.

How to check which banking licence your account sits under

There are four ways to check whether the brands you hold money with share a banking licence: ask the bank, visit fscs.org.uk/check, use the Financial Services Register, or consult the FSCS banking licences list¹⁹.

The FSCS protection checker is the quickest starting point. Its results are based on the FCA's Financial Services Register, which you can search yourself to check if your firm is authorised⁷. You can search the register using the provider's firm reference number (FRN); if the status shows as authorised, the FSCS may compensate you if the firm fails²⁰.

Another quick check is the FSCS Protected badge. This indicates that a PRA-authorised bank, building society or credit union is protected by the FSCS³. The badge is a simple visual signal, but it does not tell you whether two brands share a licence, so you still need to check the FRN if you hold accounts with more than one brand.

If you cannot find your provider, the FSCS has a dedicated page explaining what to do⁷. The FSCS can only protect money held by UK branches of authorised banks and building societies, so a provider outside that scope will not appear⁷.

Children's savings and regular saver accounts

Children's savings accounts are eligible deposits and are protected under the same £120,000 per person limit. Melton Building Society states that its Young Savers account is protected up to £120,000 under the FSCS²¹. The limit applies to the child as the account holder, so a child with savings under £120,000 with one provider is fully covered.

Regular saver accounts with building societies are also covered. Melton Building Society states that its Regular Saver 5 protects savings up to £120,000 if the society were to fail²². The same limit applies across all accounts you hold with that society, so a regular saver and any other account with the same building society count together.

Credit union savings accounts are protected on the same basis. Deposits up to £120,000 are protected by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme¹¹. Enterprise Credit Union states that its savings are protected by the FSCS²³.

Some savings products sit outside FSCS protection. National Savings and Investments (NSNI) products are backed by the Treasury rather than the FSCS, so the £120,000 limit does not apply to them²⁴. If you hold cash through an investment platform, the protection depends on where the cash is held: Chip states that if the bank holding its customers' money were to fail, the FSCS will protect money up to £120,000, provided the customer is eligible²⁵. Atom Bank states that deposits are protected up to £120,000 across all your accounts with the bank²⁶. CapitalRise states that cash deposits are protected up to £120,000 should the bank or banks where client money is held fail, but there is no FSCS compensation for poor investment performance unless it results from mis-selling or maladministration²⁷.

What happens to savings above £120,000 if your bank fails

The FSCS pays compensation up to £120,000 per eligible person, per authorised firm¹. Any total deposits above that limit are unlikely to be covered, unless specific circumstances apply, as determined by the FSCS¹³.

If your bank fails and you hold more than £120,000 with it, the FSCS would pay the first £120,000. The excess would generally be claimed through the bank's insolvency process, where you would rank as an unsecured creditor. Recovery in an insolvency is rarely certain and can take years.

There is one important exception. The FSCS can protect temporary high balances of up to £1.4m for six months after a qualifying life event, such as receiving an inheritance, selling a home, or a redundancy payment⁶. This gives people who suddenly hold a large sum a window to arrange their affairs before the standard limit applies.

The FSCS states that it now protects eligible deposits from the first pound up to £120,000 per person, per authorised firm²⁸. This means there is no minimum threshold; even a small balance is covered.

For independent guidance on what to do if your bank goes out of business, Which? explains the process and the role of the FSCS²⁹. The Consumer Council for Northern Ireland also provides information on savings account protection³⁰.

Where FSCS protection stops

FSCS protection has clear boundaries. It covers deposits and savings in banks, building societies and credit unions, but not every financial product. The FSCS protects a range of products, each with its own limit⁹.

Some products are outside the scheme entirely. Credit insurance claims, for example, are not eligible for FSCS protection³¹. Investment performance is not covered unless it results from mis-selling or maladministration²⁷. If you hold money with an overseas bank that does not operate through a UK-authorised branch, the FSCS may not cover it⁷.

The FSCS does not protect against poor investment returns, and it does not cover the market value of investments falling. It steps in when a firm fails, not when a product performs badly.

For a full picture of what the FSCS does and does not cover, see what the FSCS does not cover. If you need to claim, the process is explained in how to claim compensation from the FSCS.

Getting help and checking your protection

The FSCS protection checker is free to use and is the quickest way to see whether your money is covered⁶. You can also search the FCA's Financial Services Register directly using the firm's FRN²⁰.

MoneyHelper provides free, impartial guidance on savings and joint accounts⁴. If you are unsure how the limit applies to your circumstances, MoneyHelper can explain the rules without recommending a product.

If you have a complaint about a bank or building society that you cannot resolve, the Financial Ombudsman Service can look at it. The ombudsman is free to consumers and covers complaints about banks, building societies and credit unions.

For more detail on how FSCS protection works across different products and situations, see FSCS compensation limits and FSCS protection when bank brands share a licence.