How to File an Insurance Claim with the FDIC

On Friday July 11, 2008 IndyMac Bank became the second largest financial institution to fail in United States banking history. The US government has stepped up to help Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac mortgage companies by offering money from the federal reserves and treasury. Many people are starting to worry if they will be able to go to the bank and withdraw their hard earned cash pay the bills and put food on the table.

The FDIC guarantees up to $100,000 in checking and savings deposits as well as money market deposit accounts and certificates of deposit (CD's) per depositor for all of their member banks. If your money is held at a Credit Union, those deposits are covered by the National Credit Union Administration.

So what do you do when you go to the bank and they have locked you out and locked your money in? There are several ways to get in touch with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.

You can get information by visiting the FDIC website at http://www.fdic.gov/index.html

You can start out by filling out a Customer Assistance form located at https://www4.fdic.gov/STARSMAIL/index.asp

You can call and get information by phone:

FDIC Central Call Center
(877) 275-3342 or (877) ASK-FDIC
For the hearing impaired call
1-800-925-4618 or 1-703-562-2289 in the Washington, D.C. area
Customer service hours are from 8:00am to 8:00pm EST Monday-Friday.

For customer service on the internet you can go directly to www.fdic.gov/consumers/questions/index.html