How can I check the safety of some of the "unknown" banks offering better savings rates?

[Freddiefoxster]

I am selling my house and will have an amount of money in excess of the 85k guaranteed limit probably for 2 to 3 years to invest. I have been looking at the best savings rates and the ones offering better rates in general are from banks that I have never heard of. When I try to search the bank owners many come up as fund holders where they invest my money in deals. Some are subsidiaries of banks in countries I would prefer not to invest in as by nature that sounds more risky to me. I have heard of the owners of Tesco Bank, Sainsburys Bank and Ford Bank who appear to lend money to their customers for personal loads and car purchases. In theory these 3 to me sound a fairly safe bet but I wondered if anyone can give me advice on how I can try to check them out further so I reduce the risk of loosing my life's savings.
Any help and guidance would be appreciated.

First of all I would make sure they are covered by the Financial Serices Authority.

https://www.fca.org.uk/

Check that they are members of the Financial Services Compensation Scheme - this protects your funds up to £85k per financial institution so you could split your deposit across different banks in order to protect the full sum.

Use NS&I is another option but you'll sacrifice interest for protection

As long as they are members of the FSCS then that's £85k protected per institution. It's then factoring in how efficient they are at dealing with transfers in/out so may need to look at some reviews rather than just the rates

The FSCS limit is £500k when it’s proceeds from your house sale but with a six month limit - read it on the FSCS website.

Thanks, I was aware of the FSCS 85k limit and the 500k for 6 months. I am looking for between 2 to 3 years. I am really after any info on how I can check out the bank to see how safe and secure they are, as I said some are UK Banks but subsidiaries of banks in countries I would not wish to have my funds with, as I would only be protected up to 85k and if I can I do not want the money split in different accounts. I class Tesco, Sainsburys and Ford as reliable household names in their field but that does not mean they are safe and secure as banks for my life's savings......

Could a local independent Financial Advisor, maybe visit more than one, help you decide how and where to invest it?

I'm in a similar position but probably a smaller amount as not from a house sale and I spread it across multiple 85K guaranateed accounts, just picked the top easy access places with online/app access (some were in branch only which I am not interested in). I'm only parking it until January so didn't look at fixed term though. Would you not be better of choosing one known highly reliable one and doing a 1 or 2 y fixed if you want only one account?

Personally I feel uncomfortable having more than the 85k guaranteed amount anywhere but millionaires and billionaires must manage somehow?

Something like Hargreaves Lansdown active savings account might work for you? It's like a platform of savings accounts but each partner has their own £85k limit www.hl.co.uk/investment-services/active-savings

You basically are contradicting yourself now. What are you trying to achieve? Apart from NS&I you won't get more than £85k protected unless it's under temporary rules. If it's protected to £85k it's under the UK regulator regardless of where the parent bank might be. If you want protection for 2-3 years you will need multiple accounts with multiple institutions

Is this really what people with millions in the bank do though? I only had to set up 3 and that was tedious enough.

This
also, I don't thonk having heard of Tesco or whatever is helpful.

This is what DH uses, and he is pretty savvy. The website is very clear and they link to information on all the accounts they offer.

I may not have explained myself, I am simply wondering if there is a government body or even a financial institution that will list UK banks and offer a ratings system as a way to check out the viability of the banks that are offering the savings rates.

OP surely all you need to know is whether the bank is regulated under FSA rules and therefore your 85k is guaranteed no matter what. Just split your money between a number of banks making sure they are under different ‘parent’ organisations. You may need 4 or five but you will at least get a decent return.

Guide to FSCS link with bank name lookup www.moneysavingexpert.com/savings/safe-savings/

I think many of us would place more trust in the FSCS £85k guarantee and split the savings across multiple banks/building societies, rather than rely on a ratings system of institutional viability.

Have a look at AKG scores www.akg.co.uk

Or standard and poors

This is what I use. You're given a list of banks and rates, and you can swap your money between them pretty easily. Each one is separately covered by the 85k guarantee. I have some of my money in a bank I've never heard through this account (Allica Bank), which I never eould have done direct. There are higher rates elsewhere, but the convenience of being able to switch easily probably earns you more over time. The listed banks are regularly raising rates so I've switched a few times recently.

No, because no one who is financially savvy would be holding 100s of thousands in cash. The 85k protection isn't really relevant if you are holding specific financial instruments like stocks or bonds