Understanding FSCS protection

How the £120,000 FSCS limit works, why it's per banking licence and not per brand, and how Oinkly warns you and helps you spread money to stay protected.

If a UK bank fails, the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) protects your money — up to £120,000 per person, per banking licence (since 1 December 2025). Oinkly keeps an eye on this for you and warns you before you're exposed.

The trap most people miss

The limit is per banking licence, not per brand. Several well-known brands share a single licence, so their balances are added together against one £120,000 limit — not one each. For example, Halifax and Bank of Scotland share a licence; so do HSBC and first direct. Spread £150,000 across two brands that share a licence and only £120,000 is protected.

Oinkly knows which brands share a licence. It groups your accounts by banking licence and shows how much is protected and how much isn't.

Joint accounts and big one-off balances

Joint accounts are protected up to £240,000, because each holder is covered up to £120,000.
After a major life event — selling a home, an inheritance, a redundancy payment — a temporary high balance of up to £1.4m can be protected for up to six months, giving you time to spread it.

How Oinkly helps

The Protection Hub shows your total protected, your unprotected amount, and how many banking licences your money is spread across (more usually means safer).
Alerts flag any bank that's over the limit, with the amount at risk.
Smart Pig and the fund reallocation planner show exactly how to spread money so it's all covered — telling you the spare room under each bank's limit.

Crucially, Oinkly only shows you the plan. It never moves your money — you make any transfers with your providers, then update the balances here.

NS&I is different

Money held with NS&I — including Premium Bonds — is backed 100% by HM Treasury, so it sits outside the FSCS limit entirely and is fully protected however much you hold.

Good to know

Cash ISAs get the full FSCS deposit cover. Stocks & shares and Innovative Finance ISAs have only limited cover — it protects you if the firm fails, not against your investments falling in value.