The first measure announced was an increase in the amount of bank deposits guaranteed by the government, which has gone up from £35,000 to £50,000.
The latest move guaranteed the UK savers' deposits at Icelandic internet bank Icesave.
So exactly what kind of protection do savers have in the event of a UK-regulated bank or building society going bust?
How did all this come about?
The crisis at Northern Rock last year brought into sharp focus the question of how safe our savings are.
A system has been in place for some time to protect people's money, but it did not prevent people raising concerns as they queued to withdraw their cash from Northern Rock.
The Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) was strengthened in October 2007 to ease the crisis, and there have been months of debate since then on how to improve the system.
So what has changed?
Before the Northern Rock furore, 100% of the first £2,000 of deposits, then 90% of the next £33,000 were protected.
On 1 October 2007, that was extended to all of the first £35,000 per bank per customer.
Now, from 7 October 2008 that threshold has been raised so each saver's first £50,000 per bank is fully protected.
This only counts for a net deposit, so if you had £50,000 deposited but also had a £20,000 loan with the same bank, then only £30,000 would be compensated.
The other big potential change is a plan for access to compensation for at least some of your savings within seven days of a bank closing.
At present it would take about a month to receive compensation if a large bank closed, and longer for some other institutions.
Are my savings covered?
If you have an account with a UK bank, building society or credit union then your deposits are covered up to £50,000.
Banks from outside Europe are required to set up a UK subsidiary if they wish to operate in the UK and those subsidiaries have to be members of the FSCS, so your deposits there would also be covered.
A more complicated situation arises if you have an account with a bank from somewhere in the European Economic Area (EU members plus Iceland, Norway and Liechtenstein) in which case your bank may be covered by their home scheme.
Schemes in the EU have to offer compensation for at least the first 20,000 euros (£16,300), although they may offer significantly more than that.
In addition, they may agree to a top-up arrangement by which the FSCS would pay the difference between their home scheme's compensation and £50,000.
If you are unsure whether you are covered you should contact your bank and ask them.
What about those Icelandic banks?
The two biggest banks in Iceland are Kaupthing and Landsbanki.
Kaupthing trades in the UK as an online bank called Kaupthing Edge, though savers' money here is held by its UK subsidiary, Kaupthing Singer & Friedlander.
Landsbanki runs the Icesave internet bank, which has frequently topped the "best-buy" tables for savers' interest rates, and Heritable Bank.
Between them, they have several hundred thousand customers in the UK.
As UK-authorised and regulated operations, they are subject to precisely the same compensation schemes as outlined above.
Landsbanki was taken over by the Icelandic government and declared insolvent on 7 October.
Icesave's 300,000 customers in the UK were unable to access their accounts. However, Chancellor Alistair Darling has announced that all UK savers' deposits in Icesave will be protected.
For Icesave's UK customers, the first 20,000 euros of compensation should be provided by the Icelandic compensation scheme, with the rest coming from the UK's FSCS. However, UK customers are likely to only have to make one application to the FSCS to get their money.
Some 22,200 people in the UK who have a total of £538m saved with Heritable Bank, which was also run by Landsbanki, will see their accounts taken over by ING Direct UK - a subsidiary of Netherlands-based ING Group.
Some 160,000 savers with Kaupthing Edge, the internet-only UK retail arm of Iceland's biggest bank, will also see their deposits transferred to ING Direct.
If this savings bank hit any trouble, deposits would be protected under the usual FSCS rules.
Where would this compensation money come from?
Ultimately, the UK's regulated banks cover the cost of the compensation scheme as it is funded by compulsory levies on the financial services industry.
But the banks have raised concerns that if they pay into a pot just in case an institution gets into trouble then this would take money from the system at a time when the credit crunch means money is already tight.
As a result the money would initially come from the public sector to compensate customers of a closed bank, Chancellor Alistair Darling has said.
We've got a joint account, so how much is protected for us?
A couple with a joint account is covered per person.
So each person in a couple would have £50,000 covered in the account - so up to £100,000 in total would be protected.
Similarly, if you spread your money across different banks, then this would be covered separately.
For example, you have £50,000 saved with Barclays and £50,000 with HSBC, all of this would be protected as the rules are for deposits per customer and per bank.
What happens if I have money in different accounts, with the same bank?
This is a little more complicated.
Say you have two accounts with HSBC with £50,000 in each, then only a total of £50,000 will be covered at present.
More significantly, some banks have different divisions but are authorised under one name. So if, for example, you have £50,000 with the Halifax and £50,000 with the Bank of Scotland, then you are only covered for the first £50,000.
Other banking groups, however, have various divisions separately authorised.
For example, a customer who has £50,000 with The Royal Bank of Scotland and £50,000 with NatWest will have all of the money protected, even though they are part of the same group.
There had been some discussion of changing the rules to make each banking "brand" separate, but it was thought this might not make things simpler for consumers, and brands were not a legal entity.
You can check whether an institution is authorised at a group level or as a separate entity by checking the authorised firms register through the Financial Services Authority's website www.fsa.gov.uk. If you are still unsure, you can contact the FSA consumer helpline on 0845 606 1234.
I run a small business, what about me?
The deposit protection scheme was set up primarily for private individuals, the FSCS says.
But small businesses get similar protection to savers if the limited company can satisfy at least two of the following three criteria:
- A turnover of not more than £6.5m
- A balance sheet total of not more than £3.26m
- A total number of employees of not more than 50.
Partnerships - not the individual partners - could claim up to £50,000.
For a sole trader account, the sole trader could claim up to £50,000 in total, but can only claim for either personal or business accounts with each institution - they cannot claim for both.
What is the situation in Ireland?
The Irish government has decided to fully safeguard all deposits, bonds and debts in six banks and building societies for two years.
It followed an earlier pledge to increase the level of compensation offered by the Irish government from 20,000 euros to 80,000 euros.
The move is aimed at shoring up the country's financial system.
The banks covered are Allied Irish, Bank of Ireland, Anglo Irish Bank, Irish Life and Permanent, Irish Nationwide Building Society and the Educational Building Society.
Gordon Brown declined to offer an unlimited guarantee - but pointed out the government had not let any UK depositor lose out. So UK depositors will not lose.
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