NCA produces online guide to deposit protection
29 June 2010
The National Consumer Agency today published a new resource for consumers on protection for their deposits, which is available to download.
This follows the announcement today, by the Department of Finance, that the Eligible Guarantee Scheme (ELG Scheme) has been extended to 31 December 2010.
Calls received by a number of bodies, including the Department of Finance, the Financial Regulator and the National Consumer Agency, indicate that consumers need to be fully informed when it comes to protection for their deposits to avoid confusion.
In addition, the guarantee scheme information on the NCA's personal finance website, www.itsyourmoney.ie, has received almost 180,000 visits since 1 September 2008.
The NCA's Chief Executive, Ann Fitzgerald, explained: "The announcement today will have no impact on consumers with less than €100,000 on deposit. These consumers are covered by the Deposit Guarantee Scheme, which has no end date.
"If you have more than €100,000 on deposit and are confused about the level of protection available to you, then you can log on to our personal finance website, www.itsyourmoney.ie, where there is more detailed information."
Key points that consumers should be aware of are:
- Deposits up to €100,000 are covered by the Deposit Guarantee Scheme. This scheme covers deposits held with banks, building societies and credit unions and has no end date.
- Only deposits in excess of €100,000 are covered by the ELG Scheme (also known as the Government Guarantee). This guarantee has been extended to 31 December 2010 and covers banks and building societies. This means that term deposits taken out between the date your institution joined the scheme and 31 December 2010 remain covered (over €100,000) for up to five years (depending on the term of the account). Existing deposits over €100,000, made before an institution joined the ELG Scheme, remain guaranteed under the Credit Institutions (Financial Support) Scheme (CIFS Scheme) until 29 September 2010, if the institution was a member of that scheme.
The resource developed by the NCA on both the Deposit Guarantee Scheme and the ELG Scheme (Government Guarantee) is available on www.itsyourmoney.ie
Read a list on the Department of Finance's website of when banks joined the ELG scheme