With all the mess, which platform is the best?

To improve liquidity for risk reduction you can use accounts like AC QAA as stated. But when in an IFISA it takes a couple of weeks or more to transfer out.  However if held in non-interest bearing cash account it does presumably have fscs protection - to £85k.

’Your main protection is that loans and cash are segregated

Firstly, lets get a sense of proportion. Because FSCS protection here is actually a very minor point.

If you have loans at a P2P lending site or if that site is holding some of your cash that is currently not on loan, the P2P site is strictly required to ringfence both the loans and cash to protect you if the P2P site goes bust. In other words, the money and loans are still yours and it cannot be used to pay the P2P lending site's suppliers or any banks to which it owes money.

However, your cash at the P2P lending site is usually held elsewhere, typically at a segregated client account at a high-street bank, such as Barclays, Royal Bank of Scotland or Lloyds.

When this happens, your unlent money is at risk if the bank itself collapses. However, in almost all cases where that bank folds, your unlent cash held by the platform is covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme.

Unlent cash of yours in your P2P lending account is held in a separate high-street bank account just for lenders. This money is yours and will be returned to you. In addition, £85,000 of your unlent money is normally, but not quite always, protected by the government through the Financial Services Compensation Scheme, although this limit is shared between all the rest of your current and savings accounts at the same high-street bank, and sometimes with other brands in the same banking group. For joint accounts, the limit is £170,000.’ (4thWay)

Edit, re Provision Funds, do read Neil’s interesting article published today www.4thway.co.uk/candid-opinion/future-reserve-fund-shock-to-upset-many-p2p-lenders/