Are your savings over the FSCS limit?
The FSCS limit rose to £120,000 in December 2025. Learn which banks share a licence, why it matters for your protection, and how to check you are covered.
The FSCS protects up to £120,000 per eligible person per banking licence (£240,000 for joint accounts) from 1 December 2025, so your savings are only fully covered if you hold no more than that with any single banking licence — and some banks share one licence.
What the FSCS covers
The Financial Services Compensation Scheme is the UK safety net for savers. If an authorised bank, building society or credit union fails, the FSCS pays back your money up to a set limit, automatically, usually within a few days.
From 1 December 2025 that limit is £120,000 per eligible person per banking licence. For money held in a joint account, the cover is £240,000, because each account holder is protected up to their own limit. This was raised from the previous £85,000, so older articles quoting £85,000 are out of date.
The catch: it is per licence, not per bank
Here is the part that trips people up. The limit applies per banking licence, not per brand or per account. Several high-street names share a single licence, and when they do, they share one £120,000 limit between them.
So if you held £100,000 with one brand and £60,000 with another brand on the same licence, you would have £160,000 on that licence — and only £120,000 of it would be protected. Spreading money across brands does not help if they sit under the same licence.
Examples of shared and separate licences
These examples show why checking matters. Brands and licences do change, so always confirm the current position before relying on it.
| Brands | Position |
|---|---|
| Halifax and Bank of Scotland | Share one banking licence — one combined limit |
| HSBC and first direct | Share one banking licence — one combined limit |
| Santander and Cahoot | Share one banking licence — one combined limit |
| Lloyds Bank | Separate licence from Halifax and Bank of Scotland |
The Lloyds example is the important one: even where brands are part of the same wider group, they can hold separate licences and so separate limits. You cannot tell from the name alone, which is why you have to check.
How to check you are covered
A quick routine keeps you on the right side of the limit:
- List your savings by provider. Note how much you hold with each brand.
- Group brands by licence. Add together any brands that share a licence and treat the combined total against one £120,000 limit.
- Confirm the licence. Use the official FSCS bank and savings protection checker at fscs.org.uk. It is the definitive source — do not rely on assumptions or on this list, which can date.
- Spread anything over the limit. If a licence holds more than £120,000, move the excess to a genuinely separate licence.
Our FSCS limit checker helps you see where you stand, and keeping your accounts together with all your savings in one place makes the totals easy to spot.
When the limit really matters
For most people with modest savings, one account stays comfortably under £120,000 and there is nothing to do. The limit becomes something to watch when:
- You have had a windfall — an inheritance, a house sale, a redundancy payment — sitting in one place. The FSCS offers temporary high balance cover of up to £1 million for six months in some of these cases, so check the rules at fscs.org.uk.
- You have built substantial savings over the years across brands that turn out to share a licence.
- You are approaching retirement with a large cash buffer.
The fix is simple once you spot it: keep no more than the limit with any one licence, and use separate licences for the rest. A few minutes checking now saves a lot of worry later.
What the FSCS does and does not cover
It helps to know the edges of the protection so you are not caught out.
- Covered: money in current accounts, savings accounts, Cash ISAs and fixed bonds with UK-authorised banks, building societies and credit unions, up to the limit.
- Covered separately: National Savings and Investments products, including Premium Bonds, are backed 100% by HM Treasury rather than the FSCS, so they sit outside the £120,000 limit entirely.
- Different rules: investments, such as a Stocks and Shares ISA, have their own FSCS cover with a separate limit and different terms — the £120,000 figure here is for deposits.
So if a large chunk of your money is in Premium Bonds, it is protected in full regardless of the deposit limit. That is one reason some savers with big balances hold them.
Temporary high balances
Life sometimes drops a large sum into one account for a short while — the proceeds of a house sale, an inheritance, an insurance payout or a redundancy settlement. It would be harsh to lose protection just because you had not yet spread it.
The FSCS recognises this with temporary high balance cover. For up to six months, certain large balances from specific life events can be protected up to £1 million, over and above the normal limit. The rules on which events qualify are precise, so check the details at fscs.org.uk if this applies to you. It buys you time to move the money into separate licences at your own pace.
Frequently asked questions
What is the FSCS limit in 2026?
£120,000 per eligible person per banking licence, and £240,000 for joint accounts, since 1 December 2025. It was raised from the previous £85,000. Always confirm the current figure at fscs.org.uk.
Which banks share a banking licence?
Examples include Halifax and Bank of Scotland, HSBC and first direct, and Santander and Cahoot. Lloyds Bank sits on a separate licence. Licences change, so check the official FSCS checker at fscs.org.uk before relying on it.
Is the FSCS limit per person or per account?
Per person per banking licence, not per account. If you hold several accounts under one licence, they share a single £120,000 limit. Joint accounts are protected up to £240,000.
What happens if my savings are over the limit?
Anything above £120,000 with a single banking licence would not be protected if that bank failed. Move the excess to a provider on a genuinely separate licence to bring it back within cover.
Are joint accounts covered for more?
Yes. A joint account is treated as belonging equally to each holder, so two people are protected up to £240,000 in total on that account, per banking licence.
How do I check which licence my bank uses?
Use the official FSCS bank and savings protection checker at fscs.org.uk, which is the definitive source. Our FSCS limit checker can also help you see where you stand.