What Happens to Money Above the FSCS Limit

If your bank or building society fails, the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) pays back eligible deposits up to £120,000 per person, per authorised firm. That limit rose from £85,000 on 1 December 2025¹. Anything you hold above it is not covered by the scheme, and you would have to claim it back from whatever is recovered as the failed firm is wound up.

The limit is not per account and not per brand. It applies to individuals and companies, not accounts, so several accounts with the same bank share one £120,000 limit². Where two brands share a banking licence, they count as a single firm and the limit is shared between them³.

This page explains how the limit works in practice, how joint accounts and business accounts are treated, what happens to the money above it, and how savers who hold more than £120,000 can arrange their money so that more of it is covered.

FSCS protection: up to £120,000 per person, per firm

The FSCS protects eligible deposits in banks, building societies and credit unions authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority. The scheme's own guidance states the position plainly: "We protect up to £120,000 per person or company, per authorised firm"². The same figure appears across the scheme's leaflets and its deposit limit page, which confirms that "On 1 December 2025 the FSCS deposit protection rose to £120,000"¹.

The £120,000 figure applies only to deposits and savings. Other types of protection carry different limits: investment business and debt management claims are protected up to £85,000 per person per authorised firm⁷. That distinction matters when a provider page quotes £85,000, because it may be describing investment protection rather than the deposit limit.

The limit is set by the UK regulators, the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority, which also set the compensation rules the scheme follows⁸. The FSCS pays eligible deposits from the first pound up to the limit, so a saver with £120,000 in a failed bank is covered in full, and a saver with more than that is covered up to £120,000⁹.

Joint accounts: up to £240,000

A joint account with two holders is protected up to £240,000 in total, because each named holder is entitled to the £120,000 limit⁴. The Bank of England's explainer puts it directly: "In other words, a joint account with two holders would be protected up to £240,000"⁴. MoneyHelper gives the same figure for joint accounts¹⁰.

The doubling is not automatic extra cover for the household. Each person's share of the joint money counts towards their own £120,000 limit with that same firm. So a couple with £240,000 in a joint account and a further £120,000 each in sole accounts with the same bank would have £480,000 with one firm but only £240,000 of it protected, because each person's total with that firm is capped at £120,000.

Joint accounts are eligible for FSCS protection up to the same limit of £120,000 per eligible person, and the scheme treats the joint holders as separate claimants for their shares¹¹. Where a joint account is held by business partners rather than a couple, the treatment differs: a business partnership is entitled to a single claim of £120,000, not one claim per partner⁵.

The limit applies per authorised firm, not per brand or account

The most common misunderstanding is that each account or each brand carries its own £120,000 of cover. It does not. The FSCS states that "The limit applies to individuals and companies, not accounts"². If you hold a current account and a savings account with the same bank, the two are added together and the £120,000 limit covers the total¹¹.

Brands complicate this. Where several brands sit under one banking licence, they are treated as one firm. The Bank of England explains that "anyone who has accounts under different brands owned by the same firm is still only protected up to £120,000" across all of them⁴. The scheme's own example describes two brands sharing one authorisation number: "This means your limit for compensation is £120,000 in total, shared across 'Bank X' and 'Bank Y'"¹¹.

The licence, not the brand name, is what decides. When Tesco Bank's savings, credit cards and loans moved under Barclays, the guidance was that "While the Tesco Bank brand continues, the FSCS limit of £120,000 is now shared between the two banks"³. By contrast, Coventry Building Society and The Co-operative Bank "continue to exist as separate brands operating under separate banking licences, meaning up to £120,000 is protected under the FSCS with each bank"³.

Money above the limit is not protected if a bank fails

The FSCS pays eligible deposits up to the limit and no further. Provider guidance is blunt about the consequence: "Money beyond this limit isn't covered"¹², and building society terms state that "Any deposits you hold above the limit are unlikely to be covered"¹³. If a bank fails, the money above £120,000 becomes a claim in the insolvency, and what a saver gets back depends on what is recovered from the failed firm's assets. It may be repaid in part, or not at all.

The same limit applies to savings held through a cash savings platform. Where a platform spreads money across several banks, each bank has its own £120,000 limit, so "savings can be spread across different banks and receive up to £120,000 of protection per bank"¹⁴. That is a feature of how the money is held, not extra protection from the platform itself.

Spreading savings across more than one firm

Holding more than £120,000 in savings does not mean accepting that everything above the limit is at risk. The FSCS sets out the approach: "You can protect more than £120,000 as long as it's spread among deposit takers with different FRNs, and each holds no more than £120,000"¹⁷. An FRN is the firm reference number on the Financial Services Register, and it is the practical test of whether two brands count as one firm or two.

The work is in checking licences rather than brand names. Two accounts with different logos may share one licence and one limit; two accounts with the same parent group may hold separate licences and separate limits³. The FSCS protection checker shows which firms are authorised and what is covered¹⁷, and the scheme's guidance on checking a firm walks through confirming the firm's authorisation and whether the particular activity is regulated by the Prudential Regulation Authority or the Financial Conduct Authority¹⁸.

For a saver with a large sum, the practical steps are:

1. List every account and the firm behind it, using the firm reference number rather than the brand.
2. Group accounts that share a licence and add the balances together.
3. Check each group against the £120,000 limit, remembering that joint money counts towards each holder's own limit.
4. Move any excess to a firm with a different licence, or accept that it sits outside the scheme.

Business accounts follow the same logic with one addition. If a business is a separate legal entity, such as a limited company or LLP, it can claim up to £120,000 for each account it holds with the same bank, on top of the personal protection of its owners⁵. A sole trader does not get that separation, because the business and the person are the same legal entity.

Are credit union savings covered by the FSCS?

Yes. Savings in a credit union are protected by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme on the same basis as banks and building societies, up to £120,000 per person, per authorised firm¹. The scheme's own material on credit unions confirms the deposit protection applies to them¹⁹, and the Building Societies Association states that "Your savings are protected by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS)"²⁰.

Some credit union guidance still quotes £85,000, which was the limit before 1 December 2025²¹. Where a provider page shows the older figure, it has not been updated since the change. The current limit for deposits is £120,000¹.

Credit unions differ from banks in other ways that affect a saver's options rather than their protection. They are financial co-operatives owned by their members, and membership is usually limited to people who share a common bond, such as living in a particular area or working for a particular employer²². That affects who can open an account, not how much of it is covered.

Why some pages still quote an £85,000 limit

The deposit protection limit rose from £85,000 to £120,000 on 1 December 2025, following a review by the Bank of England's Prudential Regulation Authority²³. The FSCS confirmed the change in its own guidance, and its press material describes the scheme as protecting "eligible deposits from the first pound up to £120,000 per person, per authorised firm"⁹.

Older figures persist for two reasons. First, some provider pages and leaflets have not been updated since the change, so they still show £85,000 for deposits²⁴. Second, £85,000 remains the correct limit for other types of protection, including investment business and debt management claims⁷. A page quoting £85,000 may be accurate about investments and out of date about deposits, or the reverse.

Where a document gives a figure that conflicts with the current limit, the FSCS's own deposit limit page is the reference point: the deposit limit is £120,000 per eligible person, per authorised firm, and it applies to savings in banks, building societies and credit unions¹. The scheme's protection checker shows what is covered for a specific firm¹⁷.

How to check whether your bank is authorised

The FSCS protection checker is the starting point. It shows whether a firm is authorised and whether its products are covered, and it is the scheme's own recommended way to check before opening an account¹⁷. The scheme also publishes guidance for cases where a firm cannot be found in the checker²⁵.

Checking authorisation involves two questions. The first is whether the firm itself is authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority or the Financial Conduct Authority. The second is whether the particular activity the firm carries out for you is regulated by one of those bodies, because authorisation covers some activities and not others¹⁸. A firm can be authorised for deposits and not for an investment product it also offers.

The Financial Services Register holds each firm's reference number, which is the same number the FSCS uses to decide whether two brands share a limit¹⁷. Where a saver holds money with several brands, comparing reference numbers is the quickest way to see which ones count together.

Where the protection stops

FSCS deposit protection covers eligible deposits in authorised banks, building societies and credit unions, up to £120,000 per person per firm¹. It does not cover money above that limit¹², money held with e-money or payment services firms¹⁵, or losses from poor investment performance, which are only covered where they result from mis-selling or maladministration²⁶.

Some deposits are excluded from the scheme altogether, and the FSCS publishes eligibility rules setting out who and what is covered²⁷. Temporary high balances, such as money from a house sale held for a short period, can attract protection above the standard limit under separate rules.

Where a saver has a complaint about a bank or building society, the Financial Ombudsman Service can look at it, and free impartial guidance on savings and on what to do if a bank fails is available from MoneyHelper and from consumer bodies²⁸. For anyone holding more than £120,000 with one firm, the decision is not whether the money is safe in the ordinary sense, but how much of it the scheme would repay if that firm failed.