Bank savings protection limit increased to £120k

The Bank of England has increased the limit on protected bank balances by a third to £120,000 with effect from 01 December 2025.

Savers will now have more protection under the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) if their bank, building society or credit union collapses with any account held at a single institution authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) being protected up to a value of £120,000.

The move is designed to give savers more protection on their money, reinforce confidence in the wider UK banking system and restore real value of protection, which has been eroded by inflation since the previous £85,000 limit was set in 2017.

The FSCS protection applies per institution authorised by the PRA, not per bank account with the PRA advising savers to fully protect their deposits by spreading their savings across different authorised banks and building societies up to the £120,000 limit.

In addition, the limit for certain temporary high balance claims, used for qualifying life events such as buying or selling a house and payouts from insurance policies, will increase from £1m to £1.4m.