Deposit protection for businesses

If a bank or building society authorised by the FSA is unable to pay back deposits held with it, the FSCS can pay back 100% of the first £50,000 of an eligible depositor's claim, per authorised institution. FSCS protects private individuals and some small businesses.

A limited company would be treated as having a claim and hence protection in it's own right up to the £50,000 limit if it fell within the definition of a "small company". the definition of a "small company" is made with reference to the Companies Act 2006 (as amended 6 April 2008). A "small company" is one which satisfies two or more of the following requirements:

Turnover should not exceed £6.5 million Balance sheet total should not exceed £3.26 million The total number of employees shoudlnot be more than 50

For partnerships, the entity (i.e. the partnership, not the individual partners) could claim up to £50,000. A Limited Liability Partnership - LLP - is a "body corporate" and therefore needs to satisfy the small companies test above. Individual partneres who held mney in the same institution in a personal capacity would be entitled to claim their own right up to the £50,000 limit.

For a sole trader account, the sole trader could claim up to £50,000 in total for all his/her accounts with an institution ( i.e. personal and business accounts).