The Deposit Insurance Act, passed in 2003, protects depositors. According to it, the deposit of any person in a Russian bank is insured within a certain amount. This amount will be returned to the client even if the credit institution stops working.
What is this law for?
In the 90s, many commercial banks appeared in Russia. Some of them have grown into reputable financial institutions and are still working successfully. But many banks have disappeared - and, more often than not, along with depositors' money.
In the early 2000s, the Russian banking system entered a new, more civilized stage of its development. In particular, a new mechanism for the country to protect the interests of banks' clients was proposed - deposit insurance.
In December 2003, the Federal Law “On Insurance of Individual Deposits in Banks of the Russian Federation” was adopted. Since then, all banks accepting money from the public are required to be members of the Deposit Insurance Association (DIA). Even if it is a large state bank. But some small credit structures were not included in the system, and they lost the right to accept deposits.
Credit organizations are required to deduct certain amounts to a special insurance fund. If a bank's license is revoked (an insured event occurs), its depositors receive money from this fund.
It is easy to find out which banks are currently included in the deposit insurance system on the DIA website.
What is insured
The following are protected by law:
- Household deposits: urgent and on demand, in rubles and foreign currency. That is, here we are talking about "ordinary" bank deposits that many Russians have.
- Current accounts of citizens, including accounts for receiving salaries, pensions. Debit card accounts, including salary ones, are also insured. This means that if your "salary" bank suddenly closes, the money on the card will not be lost.
- Individual entrepreneurs' accounts. The insurance has covered these bills since the beginning of 2014.
- Funds in nominal accounts of guardians or trustees, if the beneficiary is the wards.
- Funds on escrow accounts for settlements on real estate transactions during their state registration. If the seller of real estate did not manage to collect money from such an account, then it will be possible to claim it through CERs.
But insurance does not cover all funds deposited with the bank. Including:
- funds in trust;
- bearer deposits;
- unallocated metal accounts;
- electronic means.
How much deposit is insured?
For almost 15 years of the law on deposit insurance, the limit of insurance compensation for each depositor has been increased several times. Since the end of 2014, insurance has been limited to a ceiling of 1.4 million rubles. Payments on foreign currency deposits are calculated at the exchange rate of the Central Bank based on the same amount.
Example. Your bank deposit has 300 thousand rubles. If your bank is left without a license, the refund will cover the entire deposit amount. You will get your 300 thousand back.
Another example. You have several deposits in one bank at once: for 100 thousand rubles, one thousand euros and 1.5 thousand dollars. In total, this gives less than 1.4 million rubles, and if the bank's license is revoked, all the money will remain with you.
But if you have 5 million on your account, then only 1, 4 million rubles can be returned through deposit insurance. The remaining 3.6 million will have to be sought in other ways.
Escrow accounts for real estate transactions can return up to 10 million rubles.
How to return a deposit
Two events are considered an insured event under the deposit insurance law. First, when the Central Bank revokes or revokes the bank's license to conduct banking operations. Secondly, when the Central Bank introduces a moratorium on meeting the claims of the bank's creditors.
Payment procedure:
- The DIA appoints one or more agent banks that will refund the money instead of the revoked bank. For example, Rosselkhozbank was appointed as the agent bank for issuing funds to depositors of Light Bank.
- DIA announces the start of payments. This usually happens within two weeks after the insured event. Depositors will find out where and how to get money from the media, on the website of the DIA or agent banks, by calling hot lines.
- The depositor must appear at any of the offices of the agent bank with a passport and write an application for the payment of insurance compensation.
- The money will be transferred to another account of the citizen or paid in cash. This will be done within three business days.
It's not worth running after money on the very first day of payments. By law, the depositor has the right to claim insurance until the day the liquidation or bankruptcy of his bank is completed. This process usually takes at least a couple of years.
If the payment of compensation is connected with the imposition of a moratorium on the bank to satisfy the claims of creditors, you can apply for money during the period of the restriction.
