# FSCS protection for savings: the £120,000 limit and how it works > The Financial Services Compensation Scheme protects eligible deposits at UK banks, building societies and credit unions up to £120,000 per person… - URL: https://centiview.com/uk-money/fscs-protection-for-bank-and-building-society-savings - Published: 2026-10-18T11:37:00.000Z - Figures checked: 2026-10-18 - Edited by David A - Topic: Banking (UK) - Publisher: Centiview (Persie Ltd, London) - General information only, not financial advice The Financial Services Compensation Scheme protects eligible deposits at UK banks, building societies and credit unions up to £120,000 per person, per firm. This guide explains the limit, shared licences, joint accounts and temporary high balances. ## What FSCS protection is The Financial Services Compensation Scheme, usually shortened to FSCS, is the UK's free safety net for customers of authorised financial firms. For savings, it matters if a UK bank, building society or credit union fails, meaning it cannot repay its customers. In that case the FSCS pays compensation for eligible deposits, up to a limit. You do not pay for the protection and you do not have to sign up for it. It applies automatically to firms authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority, the part of the Bank of England that supervises banks, and it is separate from the interest rate your account pays. ## The key figures and limits The limit is £120,000 per eligible person, per authorised firm. It applies to firms that fail on or after 1 December 2025, when it rose from £85,000, the level it had held since January 2017. The Bank of England's Prudential Regulation Authority had first proposed £110,000 and then settled on £120,000 in its final rules, partly because inflation had kept rising. The figure counts everything you hold at that firm together: current accounts, easy-access accounts, fixed-term accounts and cash ISAs are added up, and compensation covers the total up to the limit, not each account separately. > **Key numbers** As of 18 October 2026: FSCS deposit limit £120,000 per eligible person, per authorised firm (from 1 December 2025; previously £85,000). Temporary high balances: up to £1.4 million for six months. FSCS aims to pay within seven working days. Figures checked 18 October 2026. ## Shared licences, joint accounts and different brands Many people hold savings with several well-known names and assume each has its own limit. The rule is about the banking licence, not the brand. Banks in the same banking group that share one licence are treated as a single firm, so the £120,000 limit applies to your combined balances across all of them. Banks that do not share a licence each have their own limit. The Financial Services Register, the public list kept by the Financial Conduct Authority, shows which brands share a licence, and the FSCS offers a checker tool. Look for the 'FSCS protected' badge too, although it is sensible to confirm on the register. Joint accounts are protected up to the same limit for each eligible person. So two people sharing one account have up to £120,000 each, or £240,000 between them, at that firm. NS&I's own security page describes the same arrangement for joint accounts. An individual account and a joint account held within the same banking group are counted together for each person, so a person's share of a joint account adds to their sole accounts. Businesses are treated slightly differently: a limited company or limited liability partnership can claim up to £120,000 for each account, while a sole trader gets one claim in total and a business partnership gets one claim. ## Temporary high balances Sometimes a balance is far above the limit for a short time because of a major life event, such as selling a home or receiving an inheritance. The FSCS calls this a temporary high balance. Qualifying amounts are protected up to £1.4 million for six months from the date the money was first deposited. The Prudential Regulation Authority's policy statement also notes that certain payments linked to personal injury or incapacity have no monetary limit. These cases are not paid automatically: a person would need to contact the FSCS to request an application form, and complex cases take longer than the standard timeline. ## A worked example For example, suppose a saver holds £90,000 in an easy-access account and £60,000 in a fixed-term account, with two brands that share one banking licence. The total is £150,000 at a single firm in FSCS terms. With a £120,000 limit, £120,000 is protected and £30,000 (£150,000 minus £120,000) is above the limit. Now suppose the same £150,000 had been split equally between two firms that do not share a licence: £75,000 sits at each, which is below £120,000 in both cases, so the whole £150,000 is protected. This is illustrative only, and interest that builds up is added to the balance, so the total can change over time. Spreading money is one option many people consider; it is not a recommendation. ## What FSCS does not cover, and NS&I NS&I, National Savings and Investments, works differently. It is not a bank covered by the FSCS: it describes itself as the government's savings bank, with HM Treasury guaranteeing 100% of everything invested, with no upper limit stated on its page. That is a government guarantee rather than a compensation scheme. Savings marketplaces and cash platforms are covered for the underlying deposits at the banks they use, which is why the identity of those banks matters. Stocks and shares, and money held in an investment account that is not a deposit, follow different protection rules, which this guide does not cover. The rules apply across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. ## Who this applies to, and who it does not This guide is for people with money in UK-authorised banks, building societies and credit unions, in any part of the UK. It does not explain protection for investments, pensions or insurance, which the FSCS covers under separate rules, nor does it cover money held overseas. If a firm does fail, the FSCS says that in straightforward cases it pays compensation automatically and aims to do so within seven working days. For general questions about keeping savings safe, MoneyHelper offers free, impartial guidance, and the Financial Ombudsman Service handles complaints about financial firms. ## Check before you act Limits and rules can change, so confirm the current position on the official pages linked below, and check your own provider's licence details on the Financial Services Register. ### Sources - [FSCS, Banks, building societies and credit unions](https://www.fscs.org.uk/what-we-cover/banks-building-societies-credit-unions/) - [FSCS, Deposit limit](https://protected.fscs.org.uk/what-we-cover/banks-building-societies-credit-unions/deposit-limit/) - [Bank of England, PRA policy statement PS24/25 Depositor protection](https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/prudential-regulation/publication/2025/november/depositor-protection-policy-statement) - [NS&I, Our 100% security guarantee](https://www.nsandi.com/get-to-know-us/security/protect-your-money)