This week our bank guarantee (the last vestiges of it) was given an end date, the 28th of March 2013, that’s when the ELG or ‘eligible liability guarantee’ will be terminated. The regular deposit guarantee scheme (DGS) will continue. The DGS guarantees deposits of up to €100,000 per qualifying depositor (€200,000 for joint accounts) per institution in a bank or credit union. This scheme is open-ended, with no expiry date. In general, it covers deposits held by private individuals as well as by sole traders, partnerships and small companies. Funds held in fixed term accounts that were covered will be covered until they mature (reach their end date) but for everything else it’s over. If you have a large sum of money and want to keep it protected then make a new term deposit prior to the 28th of March because then it will qualify. This is a way of effectively ‘extending’ the guarantee for yourself. The banks and Government don’t want the likes of me to emphasise that aspect of the ELG but if you have more than €100,000 at risk then it makes sense to do it, there is no moral wrong in protecting your money in this manner, so if you are at risk, protect yourself.
(published in the Sun on Sunday 03/03/13)
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