CONFUSED BY THE Government’s latest extension to its deposit guarantee scheme? Don’t worry, you’re not alone. In fact, all the comings and goings have left many readers in the dark as to how well their savings are protected.

When the scheme was first launched at the height of the credit crisis in September 2008, the guarantee, which covers all deposits with certain named institutions, was due to last until the end of September of this year.

Then, last December, the Eligible Liabilities Guarantee Scheme, covering term deposits in qualifying institutions in full for up to five years was rolled out.

Now, following approval from the European Commission, the initial scheme has been extended until the end of December 2010. But what does the latest extension actually mean for savers and should they be worried about the security of their cash?

WHAT PROTECTION DO I HAVE ON DEPOSITS OF LESS THAN €100,000?

If you have money on deposit of less than €100,000, then the amendments to the guarantee scheme won’t affect you. Instead, you will be covered on amounts up to this figure by the Deposit Guarantee Scheme (DGS), which applies per person, per institution and has no end date.

So, if you have €50,000 deposited in three separate institutions, you would, if the worst came to the worst and all three banks collapsed, be covered for the full €150,000.

The scheme applies to: current accounts; demand deposit accounts; term deposit accounts; share accounts and deposit accounts with building societies; and share accounts and deposit accounts with credit unions.

Its reach extends to 16 deposit taking institutions in Ireland, or shortly 14, as both Postbank and Halifax are on their way out.

WHAT ABOUT DEMAND DEPOSITS OF MORE THAN €100,000?

While the first €100,000 of your money is covered as normal under the DGS, the latest extension to the guarantee scheme means that any balance in excess of €100,000 is also covered until the end of this December.

Read the remainder of this excellent Irish Times article here.

Kind Regards

Colin

Tags: Irish bank guarantee, Irish government guarantees, Torcana

This entry was posted on Wednesday, July 21st, 2010 at 7:52 am and is filed under General Opinion. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.