STILL HAVE SAVINGS, DIRECT DEBITS & INSURANCE IN UK?
SAVINGS IN UK
Under EU law, Irish and other EU consumers can keep existing bank accounts held with UK financial institutions — as long as UK legal requirements are met. Should you have money in a UK branch of an Irish-authorised bank, be aware that it is no longer covered by the Irish Deposit Guarantee Scheme — the Irish scheme which protects depositors and current account holders in the event that a bank, building society or credit union (which is authorised by the Central Bank of Ireland) becomes insolvent and is unable to repay deposits. Instead,
“eligible deposits will now be covered by the UK’s Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS)”, said a spokeswoman for the Central Bank. Deposits held by Irish customers in UK-authorised banks continue to be covered by the FSCS — as was the case before Brexit. Know the differences between the Irish and UK deposit protection schemes if your money is now protected by the UK scheme. The Irish scheme protects up to €100,000 per person per financial institution
— as long as the deposits are held at EU branches of Irish-authorised institutions. The UK’s FSCS covers up to £85,000 per person per institution if the money is held in a UK-authorised bank, credit union or building society — or up to £170,000 for joint accounts. The FSCS also covers up to £1m of temporarily high balances in your account (such as from the sale proceeds of a house) for up to six months.
UK DIRECT DEBITS
Keep an eye on any direct debits which you have set up with UK companies — or which originate from the
UK. Since the beginning of this year, your full address and other details need to be included in direct debit requests — if the direct debit originates from the UK.
Otherwise, the direct debits are unlikely to go through.
“[If you have a direct debit set up with a UK provider and those direct debits have stopped going through since the start of the year], contact your UK provider to confirm the reason for the interruption to your direct debit payments and clarify whether you are required to take any action to resolve the issue,” advised the Central Bank spokeswoman.
UK INSURANCE
You may have home, car, life or other insurance with a UK-based insurer. Contact your insurer or broker if you’re unsure whether you are still covered by your policy now that the UK has left the EU. “If a consumer has any concerns about their insurance policy, their insurance provider should be able to provide them with details of their Brexit contingency arrangements,” said a spokeswoman for the Central Bank.
The Central Bank and the Department of Finance have set up a temporary run-off regime for UK- and Gibraltar-registered insurers and insurance intermediaries to ensure that existing insurance policies can continue to be serviced after December 31, 2020 — for a time-limited period of 15 years.