Compensation limit increase is welcome but could go further

As the Financial Services Authority (FSA) announces an increase in the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) limits from £35,000 - £50,000 for depositors, Which? chief executive, Peter Vicary-Smith, says: "With the current financial crisis we're pleased to see the FSA has taken timely action to ease consumers' concerns. However, we think the scheme should offer even greater protection for depositors.

"We want to see payouts per brand, not per institution and for people to be automatically covered for amounts over £50,000 to cover one-off events like the sale of a house or an insurance payout. We also want people who hold savings and debts with the same provider to receive gross payouts as current provisions would see their debts deducted from any money they receive."