The Deposit Guarantee Scheme (DGS) protects depositors in the event of a bank, building society or credit union authorised by the Central Bank of Ireland being unable to repay deposits.
Background
The DGS is a scheme established under Irish and European legislation to protect depositors in the event of a bank, building society, credit union or credit institution authorised in Ireland being unable to repay deposits (e.g. where a liquidator has been appointed). The DGS is administered by the Central Bank of Ireland and is funded by the credit institutions (including Bank of Ireland) covered by the scheme.
The DGS protects eligible deposits up to a limit of €100,000 per person in the credit institutions covered by the Scheme. The Irish DGS covers deposits in branches of credit institutions authorised in Ireland. You do not have to be resident in Ireland or be an Irish citizen to be eligible for DGS compensation. For further information please see www.depositguarantee.ie.
Eligible Deposits
A deposit means a credit balance on an account with a bank, building society or credit union. The following deposit types may be considered eligible for DGS compensation:
- Current accounts
- Demand deposit accounts
- Notice deposit accounts
- Fixed-term deposit accounts
- Share accounts in a building society or credit union
- Deposit element of structured deposits/tracker bonds may also be eligible if they are repayable at par.
For further information about the protection of eligible deposits in Bank of Ireland Group: Deposit Guarantee Scheme - Depositor Information Sheet
Protected Depositors
In general, the DGS protects deposits belonging to:
- Individuals
- Sole Traders
- Partnerships
- Clubs, associations, schools & charities
- Companies
- Funds held in trust in client accounts by solicitors and other professionals may be eligible if the underlying -beneficiaries are eligible in their own right
- Small self-administered pensions
Excluded Deposits
Deposits placed by the following type of entities are not covered by the DGS:
- Banks, building societies, central banks and credit unions
- Insurers
- Pension schemes and retirement funds (other than small self-administered pensions)
- Collective Investment Schemes or UCITs
- Public authorities
- Financial institutions such as consumer credit providers, stockbrokers, money brokers & money lenders
- Central & local Government authorities
- Public international organisations
- Persons convicted of money laundering offences
Full details of the types of excluded depositors can be found on www.depositguarantee.ie.
General limit of protection
The maximum compensation payable is €100,000 per person per institution.
It is based on the credit balances on accounts in the defaulting credit institution at close of business on the date of default and includes any interest due up to that date. All credit balances held in the depositor's name (including balances held in a joint account or beneficially in a trustee account) are aggregated for the purpose of calculating the maximum compensation owed to the depositor. For example, a depositor with eligible deposits totalling €75,000 would receive compensation of €75,000, while a depositor with eligible deposits totalling €100,000 or more would receive the maximum compensation of €100,000. For joint accounts, each party is covered for up to €100,000.
Temporary high balances
Eligible deposits which are categorised as “temporary high balances” are protected above €100,000 for six months after the amount has been credited or when such eligible deposits become legally transferable. These are eligible deposits relating to certain events, including:
(a) Money deposited in relation to the purchase, sale or equity release by the depositor in respect of a private residential property;
(b) Sums paid to the depositor in respect of insurance benefits, personal injuries, disability and incapacity benefits, wrongful conviction, unfair dismissal, redundancy, and retirement benefits, the depositors’ marriage, judicial separation, dissolution of civil partnership, and divorce;
(c) Sums paid to the depositor in respect of benefits payable on death, claims for compensation in respect of a person’s death or a legacy or distribution from the estate of a deceased person.
Limit of protection for joint accounts
Unless otherwise specified, joint account balances will be apportioned equally between each account holder for this purpose and aggregated with any other balances held by that account holder. However, deposits in an account to which two or more persons are entitled as members of a business partnership, association or grouping of a similar nature, without legal personality, are aggregated and treated as if made by a single depositor for the purposes of calculating the limit of €100,000.
Compensation Payment Procedure
The Central Bank of Ireland is expected to pay compensation to depositors within 7 working days of its determination or a court order that deposits are unavailable.
Claims Procedure
In the event of the compensation process being initiated, details of the claims procedure and of the information which must be supplied by each depositor in order to support a claim will be published by the Central Bank of Ireland.
Deposit Guarantee Scheme FAQs