Is the money in my ISA ‘safe’ once it reaches £85,000?

Q: My Stocks and Shares ISA is reaching £85,000. Should I add further to this or are there dangers of losing some of the money?

A: It’s a really good question - and one that many investors ask as their ISA grows.

We have a really excellent page that goes into lots of detail about what we do to protect your money (it’s also got a number of helpful FAQs there as well). So do make sure you have a read of that.

• Read: How is my money protected?

But to answer your question directly, let’s unpick the first part of your question ‘My Stocks and Shares ISA is reaching £85,000’ as it might suggest there’s some kind of invisible barrier or limit to how much you can invest in an ISA. And that’s not the case. The only limit your ISA has is the annual ISA allowance (currently £20,000 per year). Your investments can keep growing tax-free well beyond £85,000.

Introducing the Financial Services Compensation Scheme

What I think you’re referring to when you’re talking about the £85,000, is the level that’s protected by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS).

The FSCS protects up to £85,000 per person, per firm, if a financial services company were to fail (whether that’s because it’s become insolvent, gone into administration or any other reason). It’s like a safety net in the unlikely event of a firm collapse.

From 1 December 2025, the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) has confirmed that the cash deposit protection limit will increase from £85,000 to £120,000. This change applies to eligible cash deposits with banks, building societies and credit unions. It’s important to note that other FSCS protection categories are unchanged.

How Fidelity protects your assets

At Fidelity, your assets are kept separate from Fidelity’s own assets. This means that if anything were to happen to Fidelity, your investments would remain safe and would not form part of the company’s assets.

If Fidelity itself were ever declared in default, two separate wind-ups (a process to wrap up the business so that it can close) would take place.

The corporate business would be dealt with entirely separately from client money and assets - which include your investments and cash.

The FCA’s rules (known as CASS) are designed to make sure firms always have a complete record of client money and assets, and that any shortfalls are quickly corrected. In practice, the client money and assets would likely be transferred to a new provider. The costs of doing this would come from the overall client money pool, meaning all clients with cash on the platform would share the cost proportionally. Any such loss would be eligible for FSCS compensation, up to £85,000 per person.

Please note: Fidelity doesn’t ‘protect’ your investments if they fall in value. This is totally different - it’s an investment risk rather than a failure of Fidelity or a bank, and it isn’t covered by the FSCS.

What happens if one of the banks we use were to fail

When it comes to the cash you hold on the Fidelity platform, we spread it across a diversified portfolio of bank accounts with different banks. This reduces your exposure to any single bank.

If one of those banks were to fail, the impact would be shared proportionally across all clients with cash on the platform. However, the FSCS would protect up to £85,000 of the total you hold with that bank - including any money you have with that bank outside Fidelity.

Example: If you had £100,000 in cash on our platform, and 10% of our client money was held with a bank that failed, you would initially lose £10,000. But you’d be able to claim that back through the FSCS, provided you didn’t already hold more than £75,000 with that bank elsewhere.

I hope that’s answered your question. It’s a complicated area, so please don’t forget to read our dedicated page where there’s plenty more information.

• Go to How is my money protected?

Important information - investors should note that the views expressed may no longer be current and may have already been acted upon. Eligibility to invest in an ISA and tax treatment depends on personal circumstances and all tax rules may change in the future. This information is not a personal recommendation for any particular investment. If you are unsure about the suitability of an investment you should speak to one of Fidelity’s advisers or an authorised financial adviser of your choice.