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Amid a new £3million publicity drive the Financial Services Compensation Schemes’ (FSCS) new savings protection checker tool has been created to help users see whether their savings are protected by the FSCS.
The FSCS has acknowledged that previous campaign attempts have been unsuccessful so have started a new campaign which started at the beginning of this year and lasts 15 months. This has been aided by large budgets seeing Sherlock Holmes star Benedict Cumberbatch, recruited to provide the voice overs for radio adverts promoting the campaign drive. Alongside this, the Financials Services Compensation Scheme is running in print and online marketing to get their message across which includes the new protection checker tool.
The tool is found on the main page of the FSCS which of course, is well known for being a government backed initiative promoting the savings and deposits of UK consumers with the idea to improve customer confidence in banks, building societies and credit unions. This follows on from FSCS research showing that 54% of consumers are now aware of the savings guarantee providing by the FSCS compared to 47% in April.
The tool, which is simple to use requires the user to click on the amount of savings they have, whether it be under or over the £85,000 amount. They are then required to type in the names of the banking societies their savings are currently tied up in, with the tool showing how much of their savings fall within the guarantee bracket.
With the average amount of UK savings being below £85,000 the FSCS have ensured that everything below this amount is protected in the unlikely event that anything happens, similar to the Northern Rock fiasco in 2008 where consumers were left out of pocket after the bank went bust. This obviously led to a nationwide crumble in banking confidence so now the FSCS guarantees savers their savings providing it is under the sum of £85,000. Of course, any joint savings under the amount of £170,000 are also protected under the scheme.
This has been a relief to the 4.5 million people who the FSCS has helped out over the last 10 years, paying out more than £26 billion in compensation.
So, if you have less than £85,000 in savings, it is likely that the FSCS covers your bank, building society or credit union – however to be safe, it is better to conduct a quick check using the protection checker tool for peace of mind!