If your bank, building society or credit union fails, the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) protects your eligible deposits up to the deposit protection limit, which is £85,000 from 30 January 2017, for most depositors.1
Further information regarding the protection provided by FSCS is set out below.
GENERAL LIMIT OF PROTECTION
If a covered deposit is unavailable because a bank, building society or credit union is unable to meet its financial obligations, depositors are repaid by the Deposit Guarantee Scheme. Your eligible deposits held at the same bank, building society or credit union, are added up in order to determine the coverage level. If, for instance, you hold eligible deposits in a savings account with £80,000 and a current account with £20,000, you will only be repaid £85,000.
TEMPORARY HIGH BALANCES
In some cases, eligible deposits which are categorised as “temporary high balances” are protected above £85,000 for six months after the amount has been credited to your account or from the moment when such eligible deposits become legally transferable. These are eligible deposits connected with certain events including:
(1) certain transactions relating to the depositor's current or prospective only or main residence or dwelling;
(2) a death, or the depositor's marriage or civil partnership, divorce, retirement, dismissal, redundancy or invalidity;
(3) the payment to the depositor of insurance benefits or compensation for criminal injuries or wrongful conviction.
For further information please see the FSCS website at www.FSCS.org.uk.
LIMIT OF PROTECTION FOR JOINT ACCOUNTS
In the case of joint accounts, the limit of £85,000 applies to each depositor.
However, eligible deposits in an account to which two or more persons are entitled as members of a business partnership, association or grouping of similar nature, without legal personality, are aggregated and treated as if made by a single depositor for the purpose of calculating the limit of £85,000.
EXCLUSIONS FROM PROTECTION
A deposit is excluded from protection if:
(1) The holder and any beneficial owner of the deposit have never been identified in accordance with money laundering requirements. For further information, contact your bank, bank building society or credit union.
(2) The deposit arises out of transactions in connection with which there has been a criminal conviction for money laundering.
(3) It is a deposit made by a depositor which is one of the following:
a. credit institution;
b. financial institution;
c. investment firm;
d. insurance undertaking;
e. reinsurance undertaking;
f. collective investment undertaking;
g. pension or retirement fund;2
h. public authority, other than a small local authority.
(4) It is a deposit of a credit union to which the credit union itself is entitled.
(5) It is a deposit which can only be proven by a financial instrument3 unless it is a savings product which is evidenced by a certificate of deposit made out to a named person and which existed in the UK, Gibraltar or a Member State of the EU on 2 July 2014.
(6) It is a deposit of a collective investment scheme which qualifies as a small company4.
(7) It is a deposit of an overseas financial services institution which qualifies as a small company5.
(8) It is a deposit of certain regulated firms (investment firms, insurance undertakings and reinsurance undertakings) which qualify as a small business or a small company6. Refer to the FSCS for further information on this category.
(9) It is not held by an establishment of a bank, building society or credit union in the UK, or, in the case of a bank or building society incorporated in the UK, it is not held by an establishment in Gibraltar.
For further information on exclusions please see the FSCS website at www.FSCS.org.uk.
REIMBURSEMENT
The FSCS will repay eligible deposits (up to £85,000) within 10 working days. Where the FSCS cannot make the repayable amount available within 7 working days, it will ensure that you have access to an appropriate amount of your covered deposits to cover the cost of living (in the case of a depositor which is an individual) or to cover necessary business expenses or operating costs (in the case of a depositor which is not an individual or a large company) within 5 working days of a request.
CONTACT
For enquiries relating to your account, please contact Bank of America, N.A. (London Branch) at:
2 King Edward Street
London
EC1A 1HQ
United Kingdom
Email: custodyemea@bofa.com
If you have any questions regarding compensation limit, please contact the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) at:
Address: FSCS,
10th Floor Beaufort House,
15 St Botolph Street,
London,
EC3A 7QU
Tel: 0800 678 1100 or 020 7741 4100
Email: ICT@fscs.org.uk
Web: http://www.fscs.org.uk.