Deposits from certain life events

As a depositor, you may in some cases be covered for more than NOK 2 million. This applies to deposits that result from special life events which have been made available to you during the last 12 months. Such deposits will be covered by an unlimited amount and are called temporary high balances.

Examples of special life events are:

  • Sale and purchase of residential or leisure property
  • Marriage and partnership or divorce and separation
  • Termination of employment, for example retirement and workforce reductions
  • Inheritance
  • Insurance payments, for example accident insurance or life insurance
  • Compensation for damage caused by criminal acts and wrongful prosecution

In addition to the condition that the there is less than 12 months since the deposit was made available, the depositor needs to document that the deposit is a result of a certain life event as mentioned above.

Such documentation will only be relevant if your bank were to be liquidated under public administration, equivalent to bankruptcy, and you want your deposit reimbursed from the Norwegian Banks' Guarantee Fund. Depositors who believe they have deposits that qualify as temporarily high balances must apply to the Norwegian Banks' Guarantee Fund. The documentation required in the application will depend on the type of event that resulted in the temporary high balance. Below is a non-exhaustive list of examples of documentation:

  • Statement from settlement or contract from property sale
  • Letter from lawyer
  • Letter from insurance company about payment
  • Letter from previous employer and pension fund
  • Bequest
  • Marriage certificate
  • Judgment

Applications are assessed by the Norwegian Banks' Guarantee Fund in each individual case and may therefore not be granted in advance. If the individual assessment concludes that it is a temporarily high balance, we will reimburse the amount. Due to the manual application processing, the deadline for reimbursing temporary high balances is up to 3 months.

Other deposits exceeding NOK 2 million

Deposits over NOK 2 million that are not covered by the extended guarantee explained above are not necessarily lost if the bank is liquidated. The depositors will have a claim on the estate and must wait until the estate processing is finalised before they will know whether the excess amount has been covered.