Most people are aware that the protection on deposit monies has been increased to £85,000, but there is still a lot of confusion as to how the Financial Services Compensation Scheme works.

The protection is capped at £85,000 per person per Institution and it is this “per institution” restriction which causes the most confusion.

Brands with very different images may be linked under a single authorisation. For example, Lloyds Bank’s authorisation covers AA Savings, Bank of Scotland, Birmingham Midshires, Capital Bank, Halifax, Intelligent Finance, Saga, Cheltenham & Gloucester Savings, Scottish Widows as well as Lloyds TSB.

Therefore, if you have more than one of these accounts the maximum protection is £85,000 per person.  If you have joint accounts the cover is £170,000.

To get a full list of which brands are covered by which Institution click on the link below which will take you to the FSA’s list of “Linked deposits for the purposes of the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS)”.

http://www.fsa.gov.uk/consumerinformation/uk_groups

If your bank or building society is not on the list and you would like information about how it is authorised, you will need to speak to your bank which should be able to advise you.