Westcountry Savings and Loans is governed by a volunteer Board of Directors. Members at the Annual General Meeting are responsible for electing directors annually. Directors and senior staff have responsibility under the Prudential Regulation Authority and the Financial Conduct Authority Senior Managers' Regime to ensure good governance in relation to all aspects of the credit union's activities. See the details of our current Board.

Audits

We are independently audited every year by an external company. In addition, we have an internal Supervisory Committee that carry out checks on behalf of our members.

Regulation

Westcountry Savings and Loans is authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority.

These are the same regulators who supervise banks, building societies and other financial organisations. Our Firm Reference Number is 230768. You can check our details on the Financial Services Register by clicking here or going to www.register.fca.org.uk 

Credit Unions in Great Britain are set up under the Credit Unions Act 1979 and the Co-operative and Community Benefit Societies Act 2014. Our mutual registration number is 708C on the Financial Conduct Authority's mutual register. You can check it by going to www.mutuals.fsa.org.uk.

Terms and Conditions

You can find the all the documents relating to the Terms and Conditions (T&Cs) for our accounts on our Downloads page.

Rules

We operate to a Rule Book which is approved by members. Changes and amendments to Rules may be proposed to members at an Annual General Meeting and, if approved, then a new Rule Book is registered. Please ask if you wish to see the current Rule Book.

Privacy Notice & Consumer Duty

A copy of our most up-to-date privacy notice can be found here Privacy Policy.

Westcountry Savings and Loans is a member-owned co-operative, with our members at the heart of everything we do. We are fully committed to the principals of the Consumer Duty and the guidance provided by the Financial Conduct Authority.

More information on the Consumer Duty can be found at  www.fca.org.uk.

FSCS

We are covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme, This means that no matter what happens, your savings are guaranteed up to the value of £120,000. This gives you peace of mind that saving with us is as safe as saving with a high street bank and other regulated providers.

For further information about the scheme (including the amounts covered and eligibility to claim) please contact us, refer to the FSCS website www.fscs.org.uk or call 0800 678 1100.

Complaints

We aim to provide a high level of customer service to our members but we recognize that occasionally things go wrong. See our Complaints Procedure.

Get in touch with us by telephone on 0800 304 7041 or by post at Westcountry Savings and Loans, Kestrel Court, Harbour Road, Portishead, BS20 7AN.

If you are not satisfied with our response to you then you can contact the Financial Ombudsman Service, Exchange Tower, London, E14 9SR. For more information see www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk.

Trading Names

Westcountry Savings and Loans is a trading name of Weston-super-Mare and District Credit Union Ltd. In the past we have also operated under the registered trading names of North Somerset Credit Union and Somerset Savings and Loans.