The chief executive of the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) has said the organisation is becoming more efficient, which will benefit levy-payers.
In his latest blog post, Mark Neale wrote one example of this was that by embracing digital technology, the FSCS had saved £2.2m in like-for-like claims processing costs.
He said: "We are [...] accountable to the industry which funds FSCS and which benefits from the confidence that FSCS protection engenders in financial services. We are grateful for the support of our industry stakeholders, but are well aware that those stakeholders expect FSCS to be efficient and to maximise recoveries.
"So our levy payers should welcome the information in the annual report about the gain we have made in value for money."
Mr Neale added that the FSCS's most recent annual report had shown during 2017/18 the organisation was able to pay down a substantial part - £11bn in all - of the outstanding borrowing from HM Treasury, which funded its support for savers affected by the 2008 bank and building society failures.
He added: "Consumers will find in our annual report an account of how we have raised awareness of deposit protection to over 80 per cent of adults and how we have reached agreements with UK Finance and the Building Societies Association about the use of the FSCS badge on websites and in advertising.
"A priority for the future will be to raise awareness of FSCS protection of other products, with retirement saving a particular priority."
The report also recorded that in 2017/18 the FSCS recovered £6m from payment protection insurance lenders to offset the continuing costs of compensating those consumers mis-sold PPI policies.
Customers of failed firms received £405m from the FSCS last year.
The consumer lifeboat scheme paid out to 69,980 customers in the 2017/18 tax year. In its annual report and accounts the FSCS revealed the value of self invested personal pension-related claims climbed 7 per cent to £112m in the year.
damian.fantato@ft.com
