FSCS: are my savings safe?

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In 2013, hundreds of Lloyds TSB branches were rebranded and millions of customers were moved to a standalone TSB. Lloyds was forced to offload TSB after being bailed out at the height of the financial crisis.

Spanish bank Sabadell agreed to buy TSB in 2015, aiming to turn the bank into a major competitor to the big five lenders in the UK.

Lloyds (then Lloyds TSB) and HBOS (formed by the 2001 merger of Halifax and the Bank of Scotland) retained their separate FCA registrations after their merger in 2009.

Customers with a Lloyds savings account and an HBOS savings account have £85,000 protection with each.

However, each of these banks own several different brands under the same licence, so you should use out tool above to ensure your funds are completely safe.

The takeover of Alliance & Leicester by Spanish bank Santander resulted in A&L and Santander being part of the same group. As of 28 May 2010, all Alliance & Leicester business transferred to Santander.

Alliance & Leicester lost its separate banking licence and FSCS protection, effectively halving the FSCS cover for those who had accounts with both brands.

When Bradford & Bingley was nationalised in 2008, savers with Bradford & Bingley accounts had their money transferred to Abbey - owned by Santander - as part of the deal. All Bradford & Bingley deposits now come under the Santander registration.

The Barnsley Building Society merged with the Yorkshire Building Society in December 2008, and it was announced in December 2009 that the Chelsea Building Society would become part of the same institution by 1 April 2010.

On 1 November 2011, the Norwich & Peterborough Building Society was added to the Yorkshire Building Society group. As with Nationwide, only the first £85,000 held by savers across the three societies will be guaranteed.

On 1 November 2010 Post Office savings accounts were transferred from the Bank of Ireland to a new UK subsidiary. Bank of Ireland UK, as it is now known, is authorised and regulated by the FCA.

Before the transfer took place, any savings you had with the Post Office were covered by the Irish Deposit Scheme, of which the Bank of Ireland who provided the Post Office accounts was a member. Your savings were protected up to €100,000 and further deposits were covered by a top-up guarantee scheme operated by the Irish Government.

Since the transfer, your savings are now covered under the FSCS up to £85,000.

Since The Co-operative and Britannia merger in 2009 only the first £85,000 held across both the Co-Op and Britannia is covered.

The same applies to savers with Skipton and Scarborough building societies - only the first £85,000 across both building societies is protected after they merged in 2008.

Since December 2008, Nationwide Building Society has taken over the Cheshire, Derbyshire and Dunfermline building societies.

It's important to be aware you will get just one set of FSCS protection across all of the brands.

This merger was announced in June 2018, and will see Clydesdale and Yorkshire bank brands disappear from the high street, and replaced with Virgin Money - despite the fact that the Clydesdale and Yorkshire Bank Group (CYBG) is in control of the takeover.

The deal was completed in October 2018, with the major changes still yet to come into force.

National Savings and Investments (NS&I) is backed by the Treasury, and therefore not covered by the FSCS. This affords account holders greater protection than that available to FSA authorised banks. In fact, 100% of all NS&I savings are fully protected.

Banks established within the EEA will be covered under their home country's compensation scheme, giving a level of cover of €100,000 (around £85,000).

If you have savings in an Irish bank you should bear in mind that you are covered by the Irish scheme, not the FSCS. If you want to be covered by the UK compensation scheme, consider switching your savings into an authorised UK provider's savings account.

The UK does not include the Channel Islands, Gibraltar or the Isle of Man. These are Crown dependencies and compensation is governed by their own laws.

For more information on how your bank is authorised and how your savings are protected, visit the Financial Conduct Authority website (www.fca.org.uk) or call the FCA Consumer Helpline on 0800 111 6768 or 0300 500 8082.

You have £85,000 FSCS protection for negligent investment advice and fraud, but only if the adviser or firm who gave you the advice is unable to meet the claim.

However, if the adviser or company is still operating and gave you poor advice, you could be compensated to a maximum of £150,000. You would need to make a claim to the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS), rather than the FSCS.

It will investigate your complaint, and force the company to compensate you up to £150,000, plus interest.

It's important to note that both the FSCS and the FOS only cover advice given by companies or individuals that are authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). If you use an unauthorised adviser, you cannot make a claim.

You have £85,000 FSCS protection if an authorised investment firm goes out of business and cannot return your money; if it went bust before this date, you're covered up to £50,000. An example could be the fund management company you've invested with going bust.

In practice, you're most likely to call upon the FSCS in cases of fraud or mismanagement, rather than a firm simply going bust. This is because investor money is ring-fenced and held by a third party (like a global bank), which means that if your investment provider goes bust, your money should be unaffected.

If you've invested in using a platform or fund supermarket, the same applies. Platforms use nominee accounts to hold investor money, which means it can't be claimed by creditors if the company collapsed.

Some financial products are not regulated by the FCA - stamps, wine, art, overseas property, for example - and never qualify for the FSCS or the FOS.

But there are some exceptions - a number of investments are eligible for compensation if you were advised to buy them, even though they wouldn't be protected if you'd invested in them without being advised to.

One such product is known as an 'unregulated collective investment' (UCIS). These see your money pooled in with other investors to buy assets which are typically hard to value, such as fine wine or overseas property.

If a regulated financial adviser has recommended you invest in UCIS, the Financial Ombudsman could help with a complaint, but only if your investment is pooled together with others. This is because the advice you've received is regulated, even though the product is not.

The individual or company that gave you advice must still be operating for you to raise a complaint. If they are no longer trading, the FSCS will consider claims in relation to bad advice, because it is considered 'designated investment business'.

A similar exception is advice to invest in peer-to-peer loans.

Again, the FSCS is restricted to cover losses arising from bad advice, not the platform failing.

To add to the confusion, however, you might be covered for up to £85,000 if you were recommended an unregulated product by an adviser and it was held in a self-invested personal pension (Sipp).

This is because advice on a personal pension is protected, regardless of the investments that sit in that pension.

If you find this confusing, you're not alone. But there is a way to check how you might be protected.

You can use the FCA Register to check if a product, company or individual adviser is regulated and authorised. Before investing any sum of money, it's always worth using this register to ensure you have the maximum protection.

At the beginning of the FSCS claim process, you'll be asked a few quick questions to see if it can help with your claim.

Enter your details to find out whether you're eligible, and if so you can continue with your claim.

Money lost from bank or building society deposit failures is often paid back within a couple of days, so the sooner you make a claim the less time you'll be out of pocket for.

To make sure all of your cash is covered by the FSCS, you should make sure it's saved in different financial institutions, or - if your circumstances permit it - consider opening a joint account.

As we explain above, the FSCS covers up to £85,000 per person, per financial institution. So, a joint account would cover you up to £170,000, and splitting your money between institutions would mean £85,000 is covered in each one.

There are several ways to contact the FSCS.

There's an online contact form, where you can request someone to email, phone or write back to you.

You can call: 0800 678 1100

You can write to:

Financial Services Compensation Scheme

PO Box 300

Mitcheldean

GL17 1DY

This depends what kind of financial product you're claiming compensation for.

Deposit failures - ie when your bank, building society or credit union goes bust - are paid within seven days of making a claim. Most commonly, the FSCS says these claims are paid in two or three days.

As for mortgages, investments and insurance cover, it could take much longer - and it depends on the complexity of the case.

Endowment claims, home finance and mortgage compensation typically takes six months to come through.

Straightforward insurance claims take three months, but often this can be longer.

Yes - but you'll need to provide proof and documentation from all executors and administrators dealing with the deceased's accounts.

For every deceased claim, you'll need to provide one of the following:

• grant of Probate/Letter of Administration
• will
• confirmation that there is no Grant of Probate, Letter of Administration or will if the deceased passed away intestate.

You'll also need to make sure that all executors/administrators review and sign the application form, and copies of ID documentation will be required for everyone that signs the form.