Bradford & Bingley was one of the biggest victims of the financial crisis The cost of protecting UK savers during the credit crisis has been revealed by the body set up to compensate victims of banking collapses.In its latest annual report, the Financial Services Compensation Scheme said it paid out £21bn in the six months after the onset of the crisis. That compares with just £1bn in the seven years before the crisis. The scheme reimburses up to £50,000 per saver if a bank goes under, paid for by the UK financial services industry. Compensation limitsThe report highlights five banks that were responsible for the majority of payouts: Bradford & Bingley; Landsbanki Islands' UK savings arm Icesave; Heritable Bank; Kaupthing Singer & Freidlander and London Scottish Bank. The FSCS also saw a threefold rise in enquiries over the full year - up from 73,000 to 234,000. The FSCS charges a compulsory levy on the UK's financial services industry to cover compensation for savers.[Read more...]