I have savings and other bank accounts: a four-step compensation process

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The compensation process is initiated as soon as the “unavailability of deposits” is declared by the Prudential Supervision and Resolution Authority (ACPR). 
Within a maximum of seven working days after the bank is declared as having failed, the FGDR opens a “Secure Compensation Area”, SCA, on its institutional website, www.garantiedesdepots.fr
All customers who have provided an email address or mobile phone number to the failed bank are informed by text message or email that the SCA has been opened. After an authentication and identification phase, they can choose their desired payment method: transfer to a new bank account or cheque.

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Please ensure as quickly as possible that you have a bank account available at another bank where you can receive your compensation and transfer your transactions.
 
For customers who have provided only a postal address to the bank, compensation is automatically and immediately sent by cheque since this lack of contact details means they cannot be registered on the SCA.  
 
Customers who have not chosen a payment method via the Secure Compensation i Area (SCA) within 20 working days of the date on which it was opened also receive their compensation by cheque.

Under what circumstances are you compensated by the FGDR?

  • When your assets have become “unavailable”, the FGDR intervenes at the request of the Prudential Supervision and Resolution Authority (ACPR). 
  • The ACPR and the FGDR officially announce the bank’s failure through the media and by informing the bank’s customers. 
  • From the date on which the institution is declared as having failed by the ACPR, you lose access to your accounts and your compensation is initiated automatically, without any prior action on your part. You will receive a final bank statement from your bank as of the deposit unavailability date declared by the ACPR and the FGDR will calculate your compensation on that basis. 

Deposit guarantee scheme: a four-step process

When a bank is no longer able to return the sums entrusted to it by its customers, the ACPR notes the bank's failure and contacts the FGDR. The FGDR is initiated on the “unavailability date” and compensates customers in an amount of up to €100,000 per customer, per institution, as well as Livret type “A”, “LDDS” and “LEP” savings accounts guaranteed by the French government, within a maximum of seven working days. 

 

Step 1: initiation at the request of the ACPR

  1. The process is initiated when the ACPR determines that the bank in question is no longer able to return its customers' funds. The deposits become “unavailable” on a date which the ACPR declares as the “unavailability date”. 

  2. This is the date on which the bank is closed for all practical purposes, since customers lose free access to their accounts. The ACPR then contacts the FGDR to compensate the customers. 

  3. The institution must immediately suspend all its activities and is then quickly declared as having failed

  4. On this date, the final customer account statements are calculated. This date also marks the start of the seven working day period during which the FGDR must compensate customers for their savings and other accounts. 

Customers must have an account at another bank which can be used to receive their compensation and transfer their regular banking transactions. 
No more than seven working days after the unavailability date, the FGDR will open a “Secure Compensation i Area (SCA)” on this website for customers of the failed bank.

Step 2: preparation of compensation, customer account statement and forwarding of information to the FGDR

 

  1. On the “unavailability date”, the bank prepares each customer’s account statement, which includes the transactions completed as of that date (for example, cheques, debit card transactions, etc.) as well as interest or remuneration due. 

  2. It then sends this electronic file of the final customer account statement to the FGDR. The FGDR performs a technical verification of the files and, on that basis, determines the amounts to be compensated. 

  3. It prints a final bank account statement and sends it to each customer. 

  4. During this time, the FGDR informs the public of the status of the process on its website and answers questions via its call centre.
     

Customers are strongly advised to notify their bank whenever there are changes in their personal situation or contact information, such as name, postal address, email address and landline and mobile phone numbers. 
 
It is important to update this information at all institutions at which accounts are held in your name or that of your family members.
 
Compensation i sent by the FGDR to an old postal address may be returned to it, and the FGDR may be unable to contact the customer again in order to pay the compensation.

Step 3: availability and payment of compensation

  1. Within a maximum of seven working days, the FGDR opens a “Secure Compensation i Area” on its website www.garantiedesdepots.fr to provide compensation for each customer:

    • by bank transfer, if the customer enters the details of a new bank account in the Secure Compensation i Area; 

    • or by cheque with acknowledgement of receipt.

  2. Regardless of the payment method chosen, the FGDR prints a compensation letter which includes: 

    • information about the customer's accounts;

    • a list of covered accounts and excluded accounts;

    • the compensation calculation;

    • the non-compensated amounts;

    • the payment (bank transfer or cheque), where applicable;  

    • a "Compensation i by the FGDR" information notice.

      - Customers who have provided their bank with an email address or mobile phone number will receive a personal message once the Secure Compensation i Area (SCA) is opened so that they can log on to it. 
      - Only customers who have provided their bank with an email address or a mobile or landline phone number will be able to access the SCA. 
      - Customers who have provided only their postal address will not be able to access the SCA. They will automatically be compensated by cheque without needing to take any other action. 
  3. During this time, the FGDR's Call Centre is available to answer questions or contact customers.

  4. This period may be extended only in cases where additional information or special processing is required.  

  5. The customer then has two months to send the FGDR any requests for additional compensation on the basis of “Temporary High Balances” or to dispute their compensation, with the necessary supporting documents. 

 

Step 4: Special cases 

  1. After the seven-day period during which most customers are compensated, the FGDR continues to process special cases, additional compensation and claims until they are completed. 
  2. It opens a Processing Centre with operators trained in additional compensation procedures: 
    - claims relating to temporary high balances;
    - processing of accounts with beneficiaries to allow final recipients to receive compensation; 
    - processing of accounts of deceased individuals; 
    - etc.
  3. Exchanges with customers continue through the Secure Compensation i Area via the secure messaging or document exchange function or by post. The telephone call centre remains available as necessary. 

Further action by you

How do I claim additional compensation for temporary high balances or dispute the FGDR's compensation decision?

An “FGDR claim form” and an "FGDR correspondence form" are available in the FGDR’s Secure Compensation i Area or can be requested from the FGDR by letter. Each form should be completed and sent by registered post with acknowledgement of receipt to the FGDR, 65, Rue de la Victoire, 75009 Paris (France) along with all supporting documents that you have for establishing your rights (bank account statements, contracts, notarial acts, etc.).

The FGDR issues its compensation decision through the compensation letter (letter, bank account statement, information notice and payment, where applicable) downloaded from the FGDR's Secure Compensation i Area or received by registered post with acknowledgement of receipt.

  1. You must submit an informal claim to the FGDR within two months of the date of acknowledgement of receipt or the download date of the last letter received, by which the FGDR closes your compensation.
  2. The FGDR's new decision regarding your informal claim may then be disputed before the Paris Administrative Court - 7, Rue de Jouy, 75181 Paris Cedex 04 (France) within two months of the date of the FGDR's second decision. For an appeal brought before the Administrative Court, representation by a lawyer is mandatory.

 

Download the FGDR claim form
pdf
135.81 KB

 

Download the FGDR correspondence form
pdf
112.44 KB

 

Section

Que faire pour les dépôts non indemnisés par le FGDR ?

  1. Vous n’avez pas de démarche à faire pour :
    • la part de vos comptes ou livrets créditeurs couverts par la garantie d’État dépassant le plafond d’indemnisation de 100 000 € et donc non indemnisés par le FGDR ;
    • la part de vos comptes créditeurs couverts par la garantie des dépôts dépassant le plafond de 100 000 € ou le plafond réhaussé en cas de « Dépôts Exceptionnels Temporaires ». Ces montants constituent une créance que vous détenez sur la liquidation de la banque et figurent dans le relevé d’indemnisation à la ligne « Part de la base d’indemnisation dépassant le plafond d’indemnisation et non couverte par la garantie des dépôts ».

      => Le FGDR déclare toutes ces créances au liquidateur judiciaire en votre nom. 
  2. Vous devez faire une « déclaration de créance » auprès du liquidateur judiciaire pour réclamer un remboursement dans les cas suivants :
    • vous avez des dépôts et des produits non couverts par la garantie des dépôts. À titre d’exemple, il peut s’agir de certificats coopératifs de la banque défaillante, ou de dépôts mis en garantie et restés indisponibles. La liste de vos comptes non couverts figure dans le relevé d’indemnisation à la ligne « Récapitulatif des comptes et dépôts non couverts » ; il vous appartient de vérifier que le montant figurant sur cette ligne est exact et de vérifier l’existence d’autres créances que vous auriez à déclarer au liquidateur ;
    • vous avez des dépôts qui ne figurent pas dans votre relevé d’indemnisation en raison d’opérations en cours ou en cas de litige avec la banque défaillante ;
    • vous n’êtes pas éligible à la garantie des dépôts.

Remarque importante : Il vous appartient de vérifier que les montants des créances déclarés par le FGDR au liquidateur en votre nom sont exacts et de vérifier l’existence d’autres créances que vous auriez à déclarer au liquidateur.
 

Comment formaliser votre déclaration de créance au liquidateur judiciaire ?

  • Vous devez communiquer au liquidateur judiciaire votre déclaration de créance par lettre recommandée avec avis de réception. Ce document doit mentionner le détail de votre créance, et doit être accompagné de tous les justificatifs dont vous disposez pour établir vos droits (relevés de comptes, contrats, …).
     
  • Vous devez adresser votre déclaration de créance dans un délai de deux mois à compter de la publication du jugement d’ouverture de la procédure de liquidation judiciaire faite au Bulletin Officiel des Annonces Civiles et Commerciales (BODACC) et dans un journal d’annonces légales. 
     
  • Si vous n’avez pas fait votre déclaration de créance dans le délai et que vous établissez que le retard de déclaration n’est pas de votre fait, vous pouvez exercer une action en « relevé de forclusion » auprès du Juge Commissaire du tribunal de commerce, dans un délai de six mois à compter de la date de publication au BODAAC du jugement d’ouverture de la liquidation judiciaire.
     

Que deviennent les opérations bancaires qui n’ont pas pu être enregistrées avant le jour de la faillite ?

Plusieurs cas peuvent se présenter pour lesquels votre établissement indiquera la procédure à suivre. Il s’agira pour vous de présenter une réclamation à votre banque avec les pièces justificatives qui permettront d’opérer à l’annulation de ces opérations. 
En voici quelques illustrations.  
 

Vous avez effectué une remise de chèques ou d’espèces à votre guichet les heures ou jours précédant la défaillance qui n’ont pas été enregistrés sur votre dernier relevé bancaire. Présenter le justificatif de remise de chèques ou d’espèces afin que l’établissement procède à l’annulation et au remboursement de cette somme.
Vous attendiez le virement de votre salaire les heures ou jour précédant la défaillance. Informer votre employeur. Puis lui transmettre les coordonnées d’un nouveau compte bancaire. 
Informer de vos nouvelles coordonnées bancaires tous les organismes procédant à des virements automatisés (CAF, sécurité sociale, mutuelle, ...).