Depositor Protection Scheme – businesses and charities

If you are a small business, registered charity or partnership the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) protects your cash deposits up to £85,000. Some banks and building societies share their banking licence and protection limit across multiple brands and subsidiaries. When this is the case the £85,000 limit is shared across all these organisations. To protect all your money, you should ensure that amounts over the limit are deposited with a provider with a separate banking licence. If your business or charity has borrowed money from the bank or building society the compensation you receive cannot be used to reduce or repay your debt.

Banks regulated in other European Economic Area (EEA) member states can operate in the UK without UK regulation.

This is called 'passporting' and means that the banks are regulated by the home country's regulator and covered by its compensation scheme.

UK, EU and EEA deposit protection is unified under the terms of the Deposit Guarantee Schemes Directive. This means there is a Europe-wide minimum of €100,000 protection per individual per bank.

The countries covered by this rule are:

• Austria
• Belgium
• Bulgaria
• Cyprus
• Czech Republic
• Denmark
• Estonia
• Finland
• France
• Germany
• Greece
• Hungary
• Iceland
• Ireland
• Italy

• Latvia
• Liechtenstein
• Lithuania
• Luxembourg
• Malta
• Netherlands
• Norway
• Poland
• Portugal
• Romania
• Slovakia
• Slovenia
• Spain
• Sweden
• United Kingdom

The Gibraltar Deposit Guarantee Scheme protects the money of small businesses, registered charities and partnerships up to a maximum of €100,000 or the equivalent in Sterling. Some banks and building societies share their banking licence and protection limit across multiple brands and subsidiaries, which means that the total €100,000 limit is shared across all these organisations. To ensure all your money is protected it is advisable to deposit amounts over the limit with a provider that has a separate banking licence. If your business or charity has borrowed money from the bank or building society the compensation you receive can be used to reduce or repay your debt and any funds remaining can then be paid to you.

The Guernsey Depositors’ Compensation Scheme protects up to £50,000 for registered charities, however businesses and partnerships are not protected. Some banks and building societies share their banking licence and protection limit across multiple brands and subsidiaries, which means that the total £50,000 limit is shared across all these organisations. If you are a registered charity to ensure all your money is protected it is advisable to deposit amounts over the limit with a provider that has a separate banking licence. If your charity has borrowed money from the bank or building society the compensation you receive can be used to reduce or repay your debt and any funds remaining can then be paid to you.

The Isle of Man Depositors’ Protection Scheme protects the money of businesses, registered charities and partnerships up to a limit of £20,000. Some banks and building societies share their banking licence and protection limit across multiple brands and subsidiaries, which means that the total £20,000 limit is shared across all these organisations. To ensure that all your money is protected it is advisable to deposit amounts over the limit with a provider that has a separate banking licence. If your business or charity has borrowed money from the bank or building society the compensation you receive can be used to reduce or repay your debt and any funds remaining can then be paid to your business or charity.

The Jersey Depositors’ Compensation Scheme protects the money of registered charities to a limit of £50,000. Businesses and partnerships are not protected. Some banks and building societies share their banking licence and protection limit across multiple brands and subsidiaries, which means that the total £50,000 limit is shared across all these organisations. If you are a registered charity to ensure that all your money is protected it is advisable to deposit amounts over the limit with a provider that has a separate banking licence. If you have borrowed money from the bank or building society the compensation you receive cannot be used to reduce or repay your debt.