FSCS protection - inheritance/house sale question

What_time_is_it

We will soon complete on a house sale of an inherited property. The proceeds from the sale will go directly into a joint current account held by the two beneficiaries/executors - my partner and her brother. The amount will be well above the £85k protected level, so...

1. Will the money paid directly as a result of the house sale of the inherited property into this joint account be covered as a "life event" under the Temporary High Balances policy? It is not their main residence.

2. If my partner subsequently moves her half of the balance (still well above the £85k level) into a savings account with the intention of maximising interest returns while she works out how to split it out further, is this money still covered by the Temporary High Balances policy? Or does the act of moving it between banks/accounts invalidate this?

It's not clear on the FSCS website and the guy I spoke to on the phone was also non-commital.

Thanks!

eskbanker

What_time_is_it said:

We will soon complete on a house sale of an inherited property. The proceeds from the sale will go directly into a joint current account held by the two beneficiaries/executors - my partner and her brother. The amount will be well above the £85k protected level, so...

1. Will the money paid directly as a result of the house sale of the inherited property into this joint account be covered as a "life event" under the Temporary High Balances policy? It is not their main residence.

The last of the listed life events is "Proceeds of a deceased's estate held by their personal representative", so I'd have thought that this should encompass this situation.

What_time_is_it said:

2. If my partner subsequently moves her half of the balance (still well above the £85k level) into a savings account with the intention of maximising interest returns while she works out how to split it out further, is this money still covered by the Temporary High Balances policy? Or does the act of moving it between banks/accounts invalidate this?

My interpretation would be that the act of moving it from the executor account to an individual beneficiary's is effectively the inheritance life event, so it should be covered under that separate provision for up to another six months.

What_time_is_it said:

It's not clear on the FSCS website and the guy I spoke to on the phone was also non-commital.

FSCS are always unwilling to commit when discussing hypothetical scenarios though, and hence:

FSCS cannot confirm the eligibility of a particular temporary high balance unless/until a bank or building society actually fails. This is because we’d need to review all of the available evidence to check that there was a sufficient connection between the relevant life event and the sums in the depositor’s account. 

If in doubt, there's always NS&I....

What_time_is_it

Thanks for the advice.