How we look after your cash

It’s natural for you to be asking questions around the security of your money. In accordance with Client Money Rules, set out by the Financial Conduct Authority, we hold your money in a segregated account. This means that your money is held separately from our money. And in the unlikely event that we became insolvent, because your money is held separately, it will be returned to you.

For additional security and diversification, we also spread the money we hold for clients across four leading UK banks. These are HSBC, Lloyds, Bank of Scotland and Natwest.

If any of the banks that we use to hold your money were to become insolvent, any money we hold is protected under the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS). There are a few points to be aware of:

• The amount protected is up to a maximum of £85,000 for each person and bank that the money is held with
• The limit is applied to banks that are separately authorised and can only be applied once. This means banks that operate under different brands, within the same authorisation, are covered under the same limitation
• The £85,000 limit includes any other money held by you in accounts with the authorised banks we use. So if you have a current or deposit account with the same bank, these will all count towards the compensation limit.
• Temporary high balances of up to £1million are protected for a limited period of six months from when the amount was first credited to the account, or became legally transferable.

For further information on the definition of a temporary balance, or more general information about the scheme, visit the FSCS website.