This information is adapted from the FDIC’s website. As with many government-sponsored websites, the information is not only reliable and up-to-date, but also searchable and understandable.

Is my bank covered?
Member banks are required to display the FDIC symbol. If you’re not sure whether your bank is insured by the FDIC, check the FDIC website for a list of insured banks, or call the FDIC help line at 1-877-275-3342.

Am I covered?
The FDIC insures deposit accounts at its member banks and savings and loan associations, in the event of a failure. The basic insurance amount is $100,000 per depositor (also known as the owner of the account), per insured bank.

Generally, the bank must be aware of your existence – either as an account owner or as the beneficiary of a trust account – in order for you to be insured. You must be clearly identified in bank documents (signature card, certificates of deposit, passbooks, accounts ledgers) in order to be eligible. Account statements, deposit slips and cancelled checks are not considered deposit account records for purposes of determining deposit insurance coverage.

What kind of accounts are covered?
The FDIC covers deposits, dollar for dollar, up to a certain limit. If you have funds on deposit that exceed the insurance coverage amounts, you might be able to recover the excess but it could take months or years to do so.

Checking, savings, NOW accounts, money market accounts, and certificates of deposit ARE insured.

Mutual funds, stocks and bonds, life insurance policies, annuities ARE NOT insured by the FDIC, even if you bought them from your bank.

Contents of safe deposit boxes at your bank are not insured. (See below).

How much coverage do I have?
The basic insurance amount is $100,000 per depositor, per insured bank. This means that your deposits, up to $100,000, will be covered, dollar for dollar, if your bank fails. Generally, funds are available within a few business days after a bank failure. If there are bank assets available to cover your UNINSURED funds, it could take months or years to receive payment.

The basic insurance amount applies to accounts at more than one branch of the same bank, including internet bank accounts, even if the internet banking part of your bank goes by another name.

If you have more than $100,000 on deposit, you may still be eligible for more than $100,000 in coverage, depending on the nature of the accounts.

What if I have more than $100,000 on deposit at a failed bank?
Even if you have more than $100,000 on deposit, you may still be eligible for more than $100,000 in coverage, depending on the nature of the accounts. For example, certain retirement accounts are insured up to $250,000.

How does the FDIC calculate insurance for my individually owned accounts?
Individually owned checking, savings, NOW, money market, CDs and accounts for a sole proprietorship are all included under this category. Amounts in each of your individual accounts are aggregated and the first $100,000 is insured.

How does the FDIC calculate insurance for my jointly owned accounts?
Accounts owned by two or more people can be insured for up to $100,000 per owner. In order to qualify, all owners of a joint account must have equal rights of withdrawal (there are some exceptions if one joint owner is a minor). All owners must sign the account documents (usually, a signature card). The FDIC will assume every owner of a joint account owns an equal share of the account, unless bank documents indicate otherwise. Amounts you own in each joint account are aggregated with the amounts in every other joint account you own, and the first $100,000 is insured.

If all criteria for a joint account are not satisfied, then your share in the joint account will be aggregated with amounts in your individual accounts, and the first $100,000 is insured.

Are my retirement accounts insured? How much?
There are different rules for banks and credit unions. If you have questions concerning a Retirement Account that is on deposit at a credit union, please see our FAQs about Credit Unions.

Traditional IRAs, Roth IRAs, SEP IRAs, SIMPLE IRAs, §457 deferred compensation plans, self-directed defined contributions, and self-directed Keogh (or H.R. 10 plan) accounts owned by a single owner are aggregated and insured up to $250,000.

Insurance coverage of retirement accounts is not increased by naming beneficiaries.

Note: Health Savings Accounts, Medical Savings Accounts, Coverdell Education Savings Accounts (formerly known as Educational IRAs), and 403(b) retirement accounts are not eligible for this increased insurance coverage.

What if my account is "payable on death" to someone else?
Informal revocable trust accounts, such as testamentary accounts, Totten trust accounts, "in trust for" accounts, and "payable on death" accounts are insured up to $100,000 per account owner, per qualifying beneficiary. If there are two or more owners of the account, each owner can be insured up to $100,000 per beneficiary. Beneficiaries must be clearly identified in bank documents (signature card, certificates of deposit, passbooks, accounts ledgers).

Qualified beneficiaries are: spouse, child, parent, grandchild, sibling. Step-children and adopted children are included in this category.

Your in-laws, nieces and nephews, cousins, great grandchildren, friends, domestic partner, and organizations, such as charities, ARE NOT qualified beneficiaries. If a particular beneficiary is not a qualifying beneficiary, then that beneficiary’s interest will be aggregated with the your individually owned accounts and up to $100,000 of the aggregate will be covered

What about accounts established in the name of my Family Trust?
Accounts established in the name of "Formal" Revocable Living Trusts, such as Family Trusts are insured up to $100,000 per owner, per qualifying beneficiary. For purposes of calculating the amount of coverage, the trust owners themselves (Trustors/Settlors/Grantors) are not counted as beneficiaries. Qualifying beneficiaries are the same as listed above.

The interest granted to a non-qualifying beneficiary will be aggregated with the Trustor/ Settlor/Grantor’s individual accounts on deposit, if any, and insured up to the first $100,000.

The account name should indicate the existence of a trust relationship and the names of the Trustors/Settlors/Grantors must be clearly identified in the account documents. In addition, the trustee must have signed the account signature card. Beneficiaries must be clearly identifiable in trust documents, but need not be listed on the account documents.

The per beneficiary coverage is available only to those qualified beneficiaries who are entitled to a share of trust assets upon the death of the trust owner. For example, if your trust is to be distributed in equal shares to your children upon your death, and further states that if a child predeceases you, his or her share will be distributed to his or her children, then your child is a beneficiary (and his or her interest is insured up to $100,000), but your grandchildren are not. If, at the time of the bank failure, your child has predeceased you, then each grandchild’s share would be insured up to $100,000.

If you retain an interest in the trust (a life estate), the FDIC will calculate its value and insure it up to $100,000.

My spouse and I created a revocable trust, but now my spouse has died. What insurance coverage applies now?
Many, but not all, family trusts provide that upon the death of a spouse, the revocable family trust splits into two trusts, one of which becomes irrevocable. Alternatively, some trusts become irrevocable upon the death of the last living Trustor/Settlor/Grantor. Different coverage rules apply to revocable and irrevocable trusts, even though the beneficiaries of the two trusts may be the same people.

Irrevocable Trust Accounts can be insured up to $100,000 per beneficiary, under certain conditions. Notably, the qualifying beneficiary rules for revocable trust accounts do not apply to irrevocable trust accounts – so, for example, friends, domestic partners, and charitable organizations would be insured up to $100,000 each if the trust account has become irrevocable, even though they would not have been insured while the trust account was revocable.

If, however, the trustee has the discretion to invade trust principal – for example, to pay the medical expenses of the Trustor/Settlor/Grantor’s surviving spouse – then the per beneficiary benefit does not apply, and the trust account will be only be insured up to $100,000. Also, if the trust gives the trustee or a beneficiary the power to allocate trust assets among beneficiaries, the per beneficiary benefit does not apply. Because so many irrevocable trusts contain one or both of these characteristics, it is more likely that your irrevocable trust would only be insured up to $100,000.\

What happens if I maintain an account as a fiduciary for someone else?
Accounts opened and maintained by a guardian, conservator, on behalf of a ward, or by an agent, nominee, custodian or executor must clearly indicate the fiduciary relationship in the account records. Such accounts are counted as the individual account of the ward, principal, or decedent, aggregated with any other individual accounts owned by that person, and insured up to $100,000.

The amount in such an account is not aggregated with the fiduciary’s individual accounts, if any, at the same bank.

What if I maintain business accounts at the bank as well as individual accounts?
If you have an account for your sole proprietorship, the balance will be aggregated with your individual accounts for purposes of determining coverage.

Deposits owned by a partnership, a corporation, or an unincorporated association are insured up to $100,000. These deposits are not aggregated with the deposits of the individual partners or corporate officers, provided the corporation, partnership or unincorporated association is engaged in an "independent activity," and is not solely established for the purpose of increasing insurance coverage under the FDIC.

What if the account holder has died?
If the bank account owner dies and the bank fails, the existing insurance coverage in effect at the time of the account owner’s death remains in effect for a period of six months, or less if the account is restructured during that interval. After six months, or as soon as the account is restructured, the available insurance coverage is determined according to the actual ownership of the accounts. See the discussion of fiduciary accounts above.

What happens to my safe deposit box if the bank fails?
Safe deposit boxes and their contents are not insured. In the event of a bank failure, the FDIC may arrange for an acquiring bank to take over the failed bank’s offices, including locations with safe deposit boxes. If the FDIC fails to find an acquiring bank to take over the failed bank, then you will receive instructions on how to access the safe deposit box and remove its contents.

What happens if my bank merges with another bank?
If your bank is acquired by another bank, the insurance you have through your bank (the "assumed bank") will continue in effect for a period of six months. You should use this time to determine the aggregate amount of your deposits at the newly merged bank and restructure your accounts, if it appears that you exceed the coverage limits.
  

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