The general public are still largely unaware of the UK savings safety net, despite some £4 million being spent on a television advertisement campaign.

The Chief Executive of the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS), Mark Neale, spoke with the BBC and said that the process of explaining saver protection to people needed to be rethought.

The FSCS now guarantees savings of up to £85,000 per person, per authorised institution, should a bank or building society go bust.  This has been increased following the Northern Rock saga in 2007.

The TV advertisement campaign coincided with the increase in the safety limit to £85,000 from £50,000 at the beginning of 2011.

Mr Neale said that research had revealed that most people still had no idea about the safety net after the three month advertisement campaign.

“It did not shift awareness anything like what we were hoping for or expected,” Mr Neale said.

He went on to add that general advertising was not working in engaging with the public and that branches of banks and building societies needed to be more prominent in supplying material on the matter through leaflets in branch and on their websites.

He used the US as an example, saying that they use their equivalent protection scheme’s logo throughout their literature and it features highly in bank branches.

Mr Neale spoke to the BBC not long after the City watchdog announced that it was to restart the funding review of the FCSC, which had been put on hold for a year due to announcements of regulatory changes.

As of next year the Financial Services Authority (FSA) is to start to consult on the levies charged to each financial institution to fund the scheme.  This has led to some of the smaller institutions to ask that banks that have been most at risk of going bust be charged more than those who’ve traded with more caution.  Mr Neale agreed that the proposal was “well worth looking at.”

The FSCS have had a busy year with claims for compensation from savers who lost out due to collapsed financial businesses increasing by 25% to a total of 39,500 in 2010-2011.

The FSCS paid out £535 million in compensation, due in part to the investment firm Keydata going bust and because of payment protection insurance claims.

The compensation body set themselves strict targets, aiming to pay compensation to those affected when a bank, building society or credit union goes under in just seven days.  The legal requirement is 20 working days.

Mr Neale proudly admitted that the majority of pay-outs this year had been completed in a few days.

The FSCS was established almost a decade ago and has become increasingly relevant during the recent turbulent times.

He said: “The events of 2007-08 underlined the need for a compensation scheme and the need for one that is capable of rising to the challenge,” he said.

“It is a message of reassurance that protection exists, and the great majority of people need not worry.”

He also warned that consumers needed to be aware that pre-paid cards are not covered by the FSCS, so people would not be refunded if any organisation providing these cards went bust.