Your former home has been sold and the money is to remain in a bank account until the next purchase. There is now significantly more than usual in that account. Besides interest and availability, a separate question arises: which amount would actually be legally covered in the event of a bank failure? This article explains the specified German framework of the Einlagensicherungsgesetz; an Austrian or other foreign bank connection is not assessed by it.
Assign the bank connection unambiguously first
Our editorial recommendation: clarify the actual account-managing bank and the relevant protection scheme from your documents. A German website or a familiar app name does not replace this assignment. Also check whether the product offered is actually a corresponding bank deposit; a security is not made so solely by being shown together in the online account.
§ 7 EinSiG bases the coverage on the depositor’s total claim against the relevant credit institution, regardless of the number of accounts. Two instant access savings accounts at the same bank therefore do not by themselves create two separate coverage amounts. For joint accounts the respective share is decisive, without special provision generally an equal allocation. [BERECHNUNG]
Separate the ordinary coverage and the special exception
§ 8 paragraph 1 EinSiG generally limits the compensation claim to the equivalent of 100.000 euro. Paragraph 2 names, under its conditions, a temporary coverage of up to 500.000 euro. This does not regularly include amounts credited from real estate transactions in connection with privately used residential properties. [DECKUNG]
This is neither an additional allowance of 500.000 euro on arbitrary existing assets nor a permanent protection for every property transaction. Check the actual connection and do not apply the special rule unexamined to a commercially held investment property. Whether a specific credit is fully covered does not follow from the word “house sale” in the payment reference alone.
Which point in time sets the temporal limit?
The special coverage also depends on when the compensation event occurs. If the relevant amount can lawfully be transferred already from the crediting, § 8 paragraph 2 describes a period of up to six months thereafter. If the legal transferability is only given later, the provision contains a special time rule related to that. [DECKUNG]
Therefore record the crediting and any later legal availability with actual evidence. A subsequently chosen purchase intention does not shift the statutory limit. Have the decisive period explained for your circumstances and plan new arrangements well before its end; do not wait until a possible compensation event occurs.
A fictitious sale with separated amounts
In the invented example Daria already has 35.000 euro at her bank. From the sale of her privately used house 260.000 euro are added. The account now shows 295.000 euro. For planning, existing funds and fresh sale proceeds are referred to separately, although they are at the same bank.
Daria must not note in general “everything under 500.000 euro, so permanently done”. She checks the special prerequisites, the deadline and the evidence. In addition, the next purchase may be delayed. In that case she needs a timely checked follow-up decision. The numerical values are fictional and do not establish an individual compensation claim.
Organise evidence and later purchase payment together
§ 8 paragraph 5 requires for the claim beyond the normal coverage a separate written substantiation with evidence of the facts giving rise to the claim. [DECKUNG] Therefore keep appropriate sales and payment documents as well as evidence of the relevant usage context accessible. An oral bank statement does not replace this factual basis.
Finally also consider the practical payment schedule: when will the new purchase price probably be needed, what reserve remains free and what conditions does a planned investment have? This article recommends no institution and no specific investment. Its result is a comprehensible allocation of balances, limited protection and timing of use, so that the proceeds between two property decisions are not left idle merely because of an attractive interest rate.