Your eligible deposits with all High Street bank are covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS).

The present limit of this FSCS guarantee is £85,000 and this applies to total deposits held at a bank, not per account with a bank.

This will be of interest to Metro Bank account holders as they witness the current difficulties and dramatic drop in share price.

On their website, Metro Bank underline the FSCS guarantee, they say:

“Your eligible deposits with Metro Bank PLC are protected up to a total of £85,000 by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme, the UK's deposit guarantee scheme. Any deposits you hold above the limit are unlikely to be covered. Please visit www.fscs.org.uk for further information.”

The FSCS do extend this guarantee to £1m in certain circumstances. The published details on the FSCS site say:

“If you hold money with a UK-authorised bank, building society or credit union that fails, we will automatically compensate you.

• up to £85,000 per eligible person, per bank, building society or credit union.
• up to £170,000 for joint accounts.

We protect certain qualifying temporary high balances up to £1 million for 6 months from when the amount was first deposited.”

If you are concerned about deposits you feel may be at risk, you can check your money is protected using the bank and savings protection checker at https://www.fscs.org.uk/check/check-your-money-is-protected/