Protecting your savingsSavings protection for different banks

Check how your bank is authorised 

For most of us, the £50,000 FSCS cover will provide adequate protection. But what if you have more than this amount in savings?

Most UK banks are separately authorised by the Financial Services Authority (FSA). Banks belonging to the Royal Bank of Scotland Group plc, for example, are individually authorised. 

So, if RBS Group went under, customers of NatWest, Royal Bank of Scotland and Ulster Bank would be able to claim up to £50,000 back from each of these banks.

Other banks are authorised at a group level. So if, for example, the HSBC group went bust, you could only be able to claim up to a total of £50,000 - even if you had more than this in savings spread between the group's separate brands, which include HSBC bank and First Direct.

Savings protection explained

Here, we summarise how different financial institutions are registered with the FSA, revealing which banking brands count as a single institution for the purposes of the FSCS.

Individually registered

These banks are individually registered and count as single entities if it came to making a claim for compensation:

• Citibank
• Egg
• ICICI Bank
• Julian Hodge Bank
• NatWest
• Northern Rock 
• Sainsbury's Bank 
• Tesco Personal Finance
• Ulster Bank
• Virgin Money

Authorised in groups

The savings providers below have group authorisation.  You can claim £50,000 of compensation per group.  

It is crucial to be aware that if your savings are split between providers in one of the groups below, you can only claim £50,000 overall - not £50,000 per brand:  

• Abbey, Cahoot, Bradford & Bingley, Asda Financial Services
• Alliance & Leicester, Moneyback Bank (Alliance and Leicester was recently taken over by Santander, owner of the Abbey, but has retained its separate registration)
• Barclays, Woolwich
• Capital One, Castle Money, Skipton BS, Scarborough BS
• Cooperative Bank, Smile, CIS
• Halifax, Bank of Scotland, Birmingham Midshires, Intelligent Finance, The AA, Saga
• HSBC, First Direct
• Lloyds TSB, Cheltenham & Gloucester
• Nationwide, Portman
• Newcastle Building Society, BMW Personal Finance
• Royal Bank of Scotland, Direct Line, Lombard
• Yorkshire Bank, Clydesdale Bank

Lloyds TSB and HBOS

Lloyds TSB and HBOS have retained their separate FSA registrations after their merger, so customers with a Lloyds savings account and an HBOS savings account have up to £100,000 of protection. 

Abbey, Alliance & Leicester and Bradford & Bingley

The takeover of Alliance & Leicester by Spanish bank Santander has resulted in A&L and Abbey being part of the same group, but both brands are still  registered separately with the FSA. When Bradford & Bingley was nationalised, savers with Bradford & Bingley accounts had their money transferred to Abbey - owned by Santander- as part of the deal. All Bradford & Bingley deposits now come under the Abbey registration.

This means that, currently, you could save up to £50,000 in an account with Alliance & Leicester and another £50,000 across Santander's other banking brands - which also include Cahoot and Asda. 

However, Santander plans to subsume the Alliance & Leicester brand sometime in 2010, so it is possible that A&L may lose its separate banking licence and FSCS protection. If you have savings with both financial institutions, it's important to keep an eye on this situation. 

Building society mergers

The Barnsley building society merged with the Yorkshire in December 2008, and it was announced in December 2009 that the Chelsea building society will become part of the same institution by 1 April 2010.

If you had savings with any of these brands before the mergers took place you will be entitled to separate FSCS protection for each brand up until the end of December 2010.

As with Nationwide, new customers will not benefit from this extra cover - and once the December deadline has passed only the first £50,000 held by all savers across the three societies will be guaranteed. 

The Skipton and Scarborough building societies 

The Skipton and Scarborough building societies have the same temporary protection in place for existing customers as Nationwide and the Yorkshire. 

If you held up to £50,000 with both societies before they merged, your money is currently safe - but from the end of December 2010 you will have just £50,000 worth of cover across both brands.

If you held savings with Capital One up until 27 July 2009, this money will now have been transferred to an account with Castle Money. Castle Money is part of the Skipton building society.

The Co-Operative and Britannia

The Co-Operative and Britannia are also using the 'stop-gap' system described above. While savers who held cash with both brands before they merged will get separate protection under the FSCS until December 2010, after this date only the first £50,000 held across both the Co-Op and Britannia will be covered. 

For more information on how your bank is authorised and how your savings are protected, visit the Financial Services Authority website or check the FSA register online. You can also call the FSA Consumer Helpline on 0845 606 1234.

NS&I accounts

National Savings and Investments is backed by the Treasury, and therefore not covered by the FSCS. This affords account holders greater protection than that available to FSA authorised banks. In fact, 100% of all NS&I savings are fully protected. 

For more expert advice about saving and making the most of your money, read the Which? Essential Guide: Save and Invest .