Millions of savers were left asking if their money was safe last week after the crisis at Northern Rock led to an unprecedented loss of confidence in the banking system.

Advisers received worried calls from customers of all banks after the Newcastle-based lender fell victim to the first run on a British institution for more than 100 years.

Websites such as Moneysupermarket reported a 120% surge in traffic as consumers searched for safe havens, with blue chip names such as HSBC and Halifax receiving most hits. Meanwhile, National Savings & Investments (NS&I), which was until last week the only institution with Treasury backing, said it was taking three times the normal level of cash.

The crisis was sparked when about 100,000 savers pulled £3 billion out of Northern Rock after it sought emergency funding from the Bank of England. The government was forced to step in and underwrite all the bank’s deposits to stem the crisis.

The Treasury confirmed last week that it would offer similar assistance to other banks if they found themselves in the same situation as Northern Rock, but only on a “case-by-case basis”, and advisers said this was not enough to prevent savers switching into the biggest names.

Sue Hannums of AWD Chase de Vere, an adviser, said: “The Northern Rock crisis has really shaken people and the Treasury ‘guarantee’ is sufficiently couched that many savers still think they may as well move their money.” She said they were also taking the opportunity to spread their money between several institutions because the amount of protection is limited. Only £31,700 of your savings would be guaranteed at any one company if it went bust. The government is considering raising the cap on compensation to £100,000, but even then wealthier savers should spread their risk.

Here, we offer some safe havens for your cash. They have been chosen because they have good rates, and advisers deem them to be less exposed to the financial crisis.

Northern Rock was forced to go cap in hand to the Bank of England because it relied on the wholesale markets for three quarters of its funding. In other words, it borrowered from other banks to lend to borrowers, rather than using savers’ deposits. When rates in the money markets spiked, crisis struck. The banks and building societies we have chosen, however, rely on the wholesale markets to a lesser extent. Even if they did hit the buffers, the Treasury should step in.

Online accounts
Advisers are concerned that savers are piling into the wrong accounts in their haste to secure a decent rate from a big name. Cash has been pouring into high-interest online accounts from HSBC and Birmingham Midshires, owned by Halifax, but the schemes have hidden catches.

Birmingham Midshires’ Online Saver pays 6.3%, for example, and it claims the account is ‘easy access’, but no interest is paid in any month you make a withdrawal. If you take money out on five occasions in a year, the rate drops to just 3.6% – costing you £1,350 on a £50,000 investment.

Money is also pouring into Bradford & Bingley’s (B&B) new Internet Saver account, which is paying a market-leading 6.4% and allows unlimited penalty-free withdrawals.

However, there has been speculation that B&B could suffer the same fate as Northern Rock because it uses the wholesale money markets for more than half its funding, although the bank insists it is secure.

Alternatively, advisers suggest Nationwide’s E-Savings account, which pays 5.8%. The building society gets more than 70% of its funding from savers’ deposits so is deemed to be one of the least exposed.

Branch accounts
If you don’t bank online, Bank of Scotland’s Instant Access account pays 5.75% with unlimited withdrawals and you can run it over the phone or through branches. Bank of Scotland is part of the HBOS group, which also owns Halifax, and gets just 35% of its funding from the wholesale markets.

Fixed rates
You can earn more if you are prepared to fix your savings rate. Saga has a one-year fixed-rate bond paying 6.92% on balances above £1. This is provided by Birmingham Midshires, part of the HBOS group, and is available to the over-50s only.

Birmingham Midshires also has an internet bond, fixed at 6.91%, available to everyone. If you do not want an internet account, Nationwide has a one-year fixed rate bond at 6.6% available via branches.

Isas
National Savings has a Treasury guarantee and the best paying cash Isa at 6.3% – but it does not accept transfers. The best big-name account after that is from Intelligent Finance, part of HBOS, which pays 5.85%.

Advisers urged savers to follow the correct procedure when switching Isas. You can transfer to another provider, but you cannot withdraw the money and then reinvest it.

National Savings
Most of its rates can be beaten. Its easy-access account pays between 2.6% and 5.15%, but the top rate is available only if you invest £50,000 or more and it is still 0.6 percentage points lower than Bank rate.

Advisers said one of the few NS&I products worth considering, especially for higher-rate taxpayers, is its index-linked savings certificate. The three and five-year plans pay inflation, currently 4.1%, plus 1.35%, or 5.45%. Returns are tax free, so they are equivalent to 9.08% from an account taxed at the top rate.

Are you really protected?

The banking crisis has focused attention on the security of people’s savings. We look at what protection you have and how to maximise it.

Would I get my money back if a bank went bust?
The Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) offers protection in the event of a financial institution collapsing. If you have money in a deposit account, the first £35,000 is protected. But only £2,000 is totally guaranteed. You will get back 90% of the next £33,000. This means that if your bank goes bust and you have £35,000 invested, you will get £31,700 back. Savers with joint accounts get double that.

Don’t savings come with a government guarantee?
No. In order to stop Northern Rock being drained of deposits, the government stepped in and guaranteed that if the bank went under, savers would get all their money back - but only for as long as the current crisis continues, and only for existing rather than new deposits.

The guarantee applies to all Northern Rock customers who had an account before midnight on September 19. Those who closed their accounts between September 13 and 19 will be protected if they reopen them.

The guarantee does not apply to any other banks, although the government has said it will step in if another institution is hit.

Should the compensation scheme be overhauled?
Yes, the run on Northern Rock has highlighted the fact that consumers do not think the current scheme offers enough protection. An overhaul is now likely, and the chancellor, Alistair Darling, is expected to raise the cap to £100,000.

Some believe the FSCS should emulate the American system. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation guarantees to cover up to $100,000 (£50,000). Some retirement accounts are insured up to the value of $250,000.

In the meantime, what should I do?
Advisers recommend spreading your savings between different institutions so you are not wholly exposed to one bank or building society. There is no benefit from opening several accounts with the same provider because the £35,000 limit is per institution.

However, if you split your accounts between different firms, be careful. Halifax, Bank of Scotland, Birmingham Midshires and Intelligent Finance, for example, are all part of the same group and are registered with the Financial Services Authority under the name of Bank of Scotland. Even if you invest with each, only £35,000 will be protected.

If, on the other hand, you had one account with Halifax, another with Nationwide and another with Bradford & Bingley, £105,000 would qualify for the FSCS. Only £6,000 would be fully guaranteed, so if all three institutions collapsed you would get £95,100 back.

Holding accounts in joint names also helps as each person benefits from the £35,000 cap. So using the above scenario you would have protection on £210,000 and get £190,200 back.