The Philippine Deposit Insurance Corporation (PDIC) will start servicing the deposit insurance claims of depositors of the closed Banco Carmona, Inc. (A Rural Bank) on September 9, 2014.

Servicing of claims for the bank's Head Office and its PTC Branch will be conducted from September 9 to 11, 2014 from 8 AM to 5 PM at the bank's the Head Office located at J.M. Loyola Street, Carmona, Cavite. The state deposit insurer announced that depositors, regardless of amount of their deposits, should file a claim for deposit insurance.

Banco Carmona was ordered closed by the Monetary Board of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas on August 1, 2014. It was taken over by the PDIC on the same day. The PDIC earlier informed depositors that there will be a delay in the payout operations because the owners, officers and employees of the bank did not properly and promptly turn over to the PDIC the records and assets of the bank. Without the complete and updated records, the PDIC was unable to promptly validate bank deposits and determine the amount of insured deposits for payment. In view of this constraint, the claims settlement operations for Banco Carmona has been delayed by 24 days. Payments should have commenced last August 15, 2014.

Furthermore, all depositors of the bank had to be required to file claims due to need to establish validity and ownership of deposits. In line with procedures adopted for other closed banks, PDIC has dispensed with filing of claims by depositors with balances of up to P50,000, and mails checks to the depositors within 14 days from takeover date.

When filing deposit insurance claims, depositors are advised to personally present their duly accomplished Claim Form, original copy of evidence of deposit such as Savings Passbook and Certificate of Time Deposit, and two (2) valid photo-bearing IDs with signature of the depositor. Depositors may also file their claims through mail and enclose the same set of document requirements.

Depositors who are below 18 years old should submit either a photocopy of their Birth Certificate issued by the National Statistics Office (NSO) or a duly certified copy issued by the Local Civil Registrar as an additional requirement, with the Claim Form signed by the parent and the other requirements. Claimants who are not the signatories in the bank records are required to submit an original copy of a notarized Special Power of Attorney (SPA). In the case of a minor depositor, the SPA must be executed by the parent. PDIC may require additional documents to prove validity and ownership of deposit accounts

The procedures and requirements for the filing of deposit insurance claims are posted in the PDIC website, www.pdic.gov.ph. The Claim Form and format of the Special Power of Attorney may also be downloaded from the PDIC website.

Depositors who are not able to file their claims during the claims settlement operations period may submit their claims either through mail to PDIC or personally at the PDIC Office, 4th Floor, SSS Bldg., 6782 Ayala Avenue corner V.A. Rufino Street, Makati City starting September 22, 2014.

In accordance with the provisions of the PDIC Charter, the last day for filing deposit insurance claims in the closed Banco Carmona is on August 1, 2016. After this date, PDIC as Deposit Insurer, shall no longer accept any deposit insurance claim.

The PDIC said that all valid claims will be paid. For deposits to be considered valid, it must be recorded in the bank's records and must have evidence of inflow of funds, based on the results of PDIC examination. PDIC, as Receiver, has the authority to adjust the interest rate on unpaid interests on deposits of a bank if such rate is deemed unreasonable.

For more information, depositors may contact the Public Assistance Department at telephone numbers (02) 841-4630 to 31, or e-mail at pad@pdic.gov.ph. Depositors outside Metro Manila may call the PDIC Toll Free Hotline at 1-800-1-888-PDIC (7342).

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