FSCS deposit cover went from £85,000 to £120,000 on 1 December 2025.

On 1 December 2025 the UK’s deposit-protection limit rose from £85,000 to £120,000per eligible person, per authorised firm. It’s the first uplift since 2017 and the largest single change to the Financial Services Compensation SchemeFinancial Services Compensation SchemeUK government-backed protection if a firm fails. Cash deposits at an authorised bank or building society are covered up to £120,000 per person, per banking group (raised from £85,000 on 1 December 2025). Investments at an authorised platform are covered up to £85,000 — a separate scheme. NS&I sits outside FSCS with 100% HM Treasury backing. in a decade. The PRA confirmed the figure in November 2025; it came into force at the start of December.

For most UK savers this is invisible until something goes wrong. The point of FSCS deposit cover is the day your bank fails — at which point an extra £35,000 of protection per licence is now meaningful. Below is what changed, what didn’t, and the rule almost everyone gets wrong about multiple accounts.

What changed

Three things. One is the headline number; two are consequences.

• Headline: per-person deposit cover at any one FCA/PRA-authorised banking licence is now £120,000 (was £85,000). Joint accounts get double — £240,000 across two named holders.
• Consequence one: if you previously moved money around to keep balances under £85k at each bank, the new threshold means you can hold more at a single licence without losing protection — fewer accounts to manage.
• Consequence two: the £120k applies only to deposits. A separate FSCS scheme covers investments (S&S ISAIndividual Savings AccountA UK tax-free wrapper. Anything inside grows free of UK tax on interest, dividends, or gains. £20,000 yearly cap on new money across all your ISAs.s, SIPPSelf-Invested Personal PensionA pension where you pick the investments yourself. Cheaper than legacy adviser-led pensions, but you choose the funds.s, fund platforms) at £85,000 — that limit did notchange. So if you also hold investments at the same firm, the protection isn’t additive in the way a quick reading suggests.

The per-licence rule (the one people get wrong)

FSCS cover is per banking licence, not per brand. If you hold money at two brands that share a single authorised licence, you have one £120,000 allowance across both, not two.

This matters at the big UK groups:

If your balance straddles two of those brands — say, £80,000 at Lloyds and £80,000 at Halifax — the combined £160,000 is covered to £120,000. The other £40,000 is unprotected if Lloyds Banking Group fails.

The fix is to spread balances across separate licences. A challenger bank like Zopa or OakNorth sits on its own licence (separate from any high-street group), so a £120k balance at one and £120k at another gives you £240k of cover.

What about NS&I?

NS&INational Savings & InvestmentsA government-backed savings provider (HM Treasury). Products are 100% protected by the Treasury — no FSCS limit applies. Includes Premium Bonds and various savings accounts. sits outsidethe FSCS scheme entirely. Premium Bonds, NS&I Direct Saver, and the Direct ISA are backed 100% by HM Treasury, with no cap. The £85k → £120k change doesn’t affect anyone holding money there because protection was already unlimited. See our NS&I provider page for the full protection-model explainer.

What about money in Stocks & Shares ISAs and SIPPs?

Different scheme. The FSCS investment-business compensation limit is £85,000per authorised firm, and that didn’t change in the December 2025 update. If you hold £200,000 of funds at Hargreaves Lansdown and HL itself failed (rare — the FSCS investment scheme triggers when an authorised firm becomes unable to return client assets), you’d be covered to £85,000 of that £200,000.

Worth distinguishing two things that often get muddled:

• The £85k investment coverprotects you if the platform fails and can’t return your assets. It does not protect you against the value of your funds going down. Markets falling is not an FSCS event.
• The £120k deposit cover protects cash held as a bank deposit at an authorised bank. Cash held inside a Cash ISAIndividual Savings AccountA UK tax-free wrapper. Anything inside grows free of UK tax on interest, dividends, or gains. £20,000 yearly cap on new money across all your ISAs. via partner banks is deposit cover. Cash held inside an MMFMoney-market fundA low-risk fund that holds short-term government and bank debt. Often used by S&S ISA platforms to pay interest on uninvested cash. Not FSCS-protected — held in fund units, not bank deposits.(Money Market Fund) sweep — what Trading 212 and Vanguard offer on uninvested S&S ISA / SIPP cash — is notdeposit cover. It’s fund-unit investment cover.

What this means for how you compare providers

Most UK personal-finance sites are still quoting £85,000 for deposit cover as of mid-2026. The fact-check is at the FSCS stakeholder page and the Bank of England PRA confirmation.

Feefee’s provider data reflects the £120,000 deposit cover across every provider page — see /sources for each figure’s source and date. The Trading 212 Cash ISA cover note specifies £120k per partner bank, and the protection model for NS&I is correctly distinguished as HM Treasury-backed rather than FSCS-protected.

Quick reference

Sources

• Bank of England — PRA confirms FSCS deposit limit increase to £120,000 (Nov 2025)
• FSCS — Deposit limit increase to £120,000
• FSCS — Deposit-limit change stakeholder materials
• FSCS — Check your money is protected (tool)

Feefee is a comparison publisher, not a regulated adviser. This article is illustrative reference content, not personal financial advice or a recommendation. For situations that need personal advice — Defined Benefit pension transfers, cross-border holdings, complex tax planning — please speak to an FCA-authorised adviser.