FSCS savings protection: the £120,000 limit explained
FSCS deposit protection is now materially higher than the old £85,000 figure many savers still remember. Since 1 December 2025, eligible deposits are protected up to £120,000 per person, per UK-authorised firm, with separate temporary-high-balance protection for qualifying life events.
The standard FSCS deposit limit is £120,000 per eligible person, per authorised firm. Qualifying temporary high balances can be protected up to £1.4 million for six months in most cases. The critical detail is the banking licence: different brands can share one authorised firm, so the limit is not necessarily £120,000 per brand.
The £120,000 limit applies per person, per authorised firm
If you hold £70,000 in one savings account and £40,000 in another account at the same authorised bank, the combined £110,000 can sit within the standard limit. If the combined balance were £145,000, £25,000 would be above the standard limit unless another form of protection applied.
Joint accounts are generally treated by ownership share. A joint £200,000 balance held equally by two eligible people can fit within two £120,000 individual limits, subject to the accounts being with the same authorised firm and no other deposits changing the totals.
Practical check for this section: You have £160,000 split between two brands that turn out to share the same UK banking authorisation. Compare that record with the authorised firm behind each brand, total eligible deposits under that authorisation, joint-account ownership and whether any balance qualifies as a temporary high balance. The point is to separate what you know from what you have only assumed. Add deposits by authorised firm rather than by brand. With £160,000 under one authorisation, the ordinary £120,000 limit leaves £40,000 above the standard protection limit unless another protection category applies.
As of September 2026, FSCS states that eligible deposits are protected up to £120,000 per person, per authorised firm. It also states that qualifying temporary high balances can be protected up to £1.4 million for up to six months.
Brand names can hide a shared licence
Two different banking brands can operate under the same banking authorisation. If they do, the balances are added together for FSCS purposes. Opening a second savings account with a different logo is therefore not automatically diversification.
Before moving a large balance, use the FSCS checker and look at the legal entity named on the account documentation. The protection boundary follows the authorised firm, not the colour of the debit card or the brand name in the app.
Put the decision into a small worksheet rather than relying on the headline. Use You have £160,000 split between two brands that turn out to share the same UK banking authorisation. as the test case and list the money at risk, the deadline or status, and the result of checking the authorised firm behind each brand, total eligible deposits under that authorisation, joint-account ownership and whether any balance qualifies as a temporary high balance. Add deposits by authorised firm rather than by brand. With £160,000 under one authorisation, the ordinary £120,000 limit leaves £40,000 above the standard protection limit unless another protection category applies.
Temporary high balances cover certain major life events
FSCS says qualifying temporary high balances can receive protection up to £1.4 million for six months in most cases. Examples can include money from selling a main home or receiving an inheritance. Personal-injury related temporary balances can have different treatment.
If £350,000 from a house sale lands in one account, do not panic because it exceeds £120,000 on day one. Check whether the event qualifies, keep the completion statement or other evidence, and note when the six-month protection period starts.
Build the evidence file while the event is still fresh. For a case like You have £160,000 split between two brands that turn out to share the same UK banking authorisation., keep FSCS protection checker result, bank statements, account ownership and documents supporting any temporary high-balance event. That is more useful than sending dozens of unrelated screenshots. Add deposits by authorised firm rather than by brand. With £160,000 under one authorisation, the ordinary £120,000 limit leaves £40,000 above the standard protection limit unless another protection category applies.
Protection is about provider failure, not investment loss
FSCS deposit protection applies to eligible deposits with UK-authorised banks, building societies and credit unions. It does not turn every financial product sold by a banking group into a £120,000 guaranteed account. Investments, e-money and other products can fall under different rules or no deposit protection at all.
Check what legal product you actually hold. A cash savings account and a money-market investment can appear side by side in an app while having very different protection structures.
Worked decision example: You have £160,000 split between two brands that turn out to share the same UK banking authorisation. Before acting, compare the best-case, expected and worst-case outcome using the authorised firm behind each brand, total eligible deposits under that authorisation, joint-account ownership and whether any balance qualifies as a temporary high balance. If the action is reversible, record what should happen next and set a date to check it. Add deposits by authorised firm rather than by brand. With £160,000 under one authorisation, the ordinary £120,000 limit leaves £40,000 above the standard protection limit unless another protection category applies. This converts a vague banking problem into a sequence you can verify.
Use the limit to design where large cash balances sit
A saver with £210,000 who wants the whole amount within standard deposit protection may need to spread money across genuinely separate authorised firms. If one group holds £120,000 and another independent authorised firm holds £90,000, the standard limits can cover the full amount, assuming eligibility.
Recheck after interest is credited. A balance deliberately set at exactly £120,000 can move above the limit when interest arrives. Leave headroom or spread the excess if full standard protection is important to you.
For a practical licence check, make a small table with three columns: brand, authorised firm and total balance. If Brand A and Brand B both sit under the same authorised bank and hold £80,000 and £60,000 for you, the combined £140,000 is what matters against the £120,000 standard limit. Moving £20,000 from one brand to the other changes nothing. Moving it to a genuinely separate authorised firm can. Repeat the exercise after fixed-term accounts mature or large interest payments arrive, because protection can change without any new account being opened.
Set an escalation trigger instead of waiting indefinitely. For You have £160,000 split between two brands that turn out to share the same UK banking authorisation., decide in advance what result or deadline would make you contact the bank, provider or other organisation again. Keep FSCS protection checker result, bank statements, account ownership and documents supporting any temporary high-balance event. For a recent home sale, inheritance or other qualifying event, check temporary-high-balance rules separately: FSCS says qualifying temporary high balances can be protected up to £1.4 million for up to six months.
Sources and verification
Isabelle Reed
The most dangerous FSCS mistake is using brand count instead of banking-licence count. I would map every large savings balance to the authorised firm behind it, then add the balances by licence. The second mistake is remembering £85,000: that stopped being the standard limit on 1 December 2025. For very large temporary balances, keep the life-event evidence rather than moving money frantically before checking whether temporary-high-balance protection already applies.
MyBankAnswers uses official provider and UK regulatory sources wherever practical. Information is general and does not constitute financial advice.