Hello and welcome to Money Girls Quick and Dirty Tips for a richer life.

I'm your host Laura Adams. Many of the listener emails and voicemails I've received lately

have been about FDIC insurance. I see this is a popular topic so I'll answer a few specific questions about

FDIC coverage in this episode. Now let's get to the great listener questions I

received.

Ken writes in, federal law requires the FDIC to make payments to depositors

as quickly as possible after a bank fails.

Is there a defined timetable?

How long is the FDIC legally allowed before making payment

during a widespread series of bank failures?

Ken, thanks for the question. The FDIC policy regarding the time for payment of

insurance claims is, quote, as soon as possible, end quote, with no specific time frame or payment deadline.

But let's consider how payments from the FDIC

have been handled in the recent past.

Historically, the FDIC has made payment on insured funds within a few days.

They typically make arrangements for a bank in good standing to open a new account for each recipient of insured deposits

and send their money on the next business day.

In the event that the FDIC cannot send funds to a healthy institution, they issue checks

directly to depositors.

They indicate that this payable process can take up to three business days.

And with certain types of accounts, such as living trusts or those open by brokers, the FDIC may need more time to finalize the insurance

payment, but they say that this process usually wouldn't take more than one to two weeks.

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