There has been an important change to how customers’ money is protected if something goes wrong with their bank or building society and it is unable to meet its financial obligations to those who have made deposits. The changes are in the provisions of the Financial Services Compensation Scheme, which can pay compensation and covers most depositors, including most individuals and small businesses.
From 31 December 2010 the FSCS is raising the level of protection for an individual from £50,000 per financial institution to £85,000. For those people who have a joint account, each account holder is protected for their share. This means that the maximum amount which can be claimed, for a joint account, is increased to £170,000.
For further information about the scheme, including eligibility and details on how to claim visit the FSCS website.
Nationwide Group
Nationwide operates under the trading names of Nationwide Building Society, Cheshire Building Society, Derbyshire Building Society and Dunfermline Building Society.
It is important to note that from 31 December 2010 the new FSCS limit of £85,000 per individual (or £170,000 for joint account holders) applies to the combined amount in all the eligible depositor’s accounts across any one or more of the Nationwide Group trading names.
Financially secure
The FSCS was set up by the Government to protect individuals and small businesses against financial service providers who cannot meet their financial obligations. Nationwide Group fully supports the FSCS, but does not envisage customers needing to use this facility. The Group is proud of its financial strength, robust balance sheet and strong capital base and has remained safe and secure throughout the current and previous economic crises.