While the Financial Services Compensation Scheme has reduced the annual levy financial services firms were quoted in January by £37 million, investment and home finance intermediaries will see their bills for the year increase.

While the Financial Services Compensation Scheme has reduced the annual levy financial services firms were quoted in January by £37 million($61.8 million), investment and home finance intermediaries will see their bills for the year increase.

The FSCS said in a statement that firms will now pay £276 million for 2014/15, down from the initial projection of £313 million in January.

However, investment intermediaries will see their final levies for the year rise from the initial forecast of £105 million to £112 million. This total includes the cost of Catalyst claims after the FSCS deferred a potential interim levy of £30 million in 2013/14. Home finance intermediaries will pay a levy of £2 million.

The FSCS said that it had revised its charges as it believed payment protection insurance claims may have peaked last year and be on a downward trend. This reduction in claims means a much lower bill for insurance intermediaries and the final levy for the sector will be £38 million.

Fund managers will receive a rebate from the FSCS as a result of successful recoveries by the scheme relating to the failure of Keydata.

"There is good news today for many firms. Our overall levy for the coming year is down from earlier indications. That partly reflects an expectation of lower claims volumes. But fund managers and investment intermediaries are also benefiting from our success in making recoveries. We have secured many millions of pounds for them and will continue to pursue recoveries wherever it is cost-effective to do so,” said FSCS chief executive Mark Neale.

The FSCS protects consumers when authorised firms go bust. It was set up by the UK government in 2001 and has paid out more than £26 billion to more than 4.5 million people.