The Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) is the government mandated protection scheme for savings in the UK, and is designed to protect savers from the collapse of financial institutions. Protection of savings is key during uncertain times, and although the collapse of Northern Rock, Bradford & Bingley, and the Icelandic banks are now a distant memory, that memory should still prompt savers to assess whether their savings are safe through this pandemic and the predicted recession.
As it stands, all current and savings accounts held with UK regulated financial institutions are covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme up to £85k per person, per bank. This £85k coverage per person, per bank, is not per account, meaning that if you hold £85k in a savings account and £85k in a current account both with the same bank, only one portion of the total will be covered.
If you hold above £85k per bank then this will not be covered should that bank fail, and anything over £85k could potentially be lost. This is unfortunate as it does not match the behaviour of savers and investors when the state of the economy is uncertain. During volatile times many people like to hold cash in order to avoid the worst effects of market fluctuations on equity investments, which then leaves them vulnerable to bank failure if balances are large.
It’s vital then, if you are holding excess cash, that you diversify your holdings across a number of different banks to ensure maximum FSCS protection. This is where Insignis comes in. Insignis offers diversification across several banks with one single sign up process to maximise your protection. This saves you opening and managing multiple accounts yourself, and gives you one hub to control your cash, allowing you to move and deposit your funds at the touch of a button.
To find out how Insignis could help maximise FSCS protection, get in touch with us today.