Savings accounts for non UK resident

attila_123

Hi MSEers,

my mum recently retired back to France to look after her mum (she is 93), she plans on coming back to UK once her mum passes away. Whilst she is there she is considered no longer a resident in the UK. However she would like to keep savings accounts in the UK. She isn’t eligible for normal accounts, and the one she is looking to choose is Lloyds international savings account at 4%. (She will have to declare and pay tax on interest earnings in France). 

My question is more about protection. In the UK there is the £85k FSCS limit. Given there are not many choices for other international savings account I wondered those with large savings how strict are you at limiting to £85k per bank? The lloyds account has a limit of £5m and I wondered what’s the point of offering customers the ability to keep such large amounts if the FSCS is £85k? 

Basically is it irresponsible and risky to put more than £85k into a savings account? 

eskbanker

Offshore setups like Lloyds International won't benefit from the UK's FSCS protection anyway because they're domiciled in places like the Channel Islands and so are aligned with the local deposit protection schemes there, which have lower limits:

https://www.lloydsbank.com/international/insight-and-guidance/depositor-compensation-schemes.html