She found two old postal orders worth 2 million old lire and is now asking the Italian Post Office to collect them and revalue them up to 29 euros. However, the Italian Post Office management only intends to reimburse 11 euros. So Giuseppina Piermattei, 102, originally from Modena and living in Salerno, turned to the "Giustitalia" Association to obtain what she believes to be a fair financial return.
The story dates back to a few months ago, and precisely in September 2019, while he was tidying up the furniture in the house he owned in Modena, together with his nephew, he fortuitously found, under a tile, two BPFs registered in the name of his deceased brother with a value of 2 million lire issued in 1986.
The securities, of which the same had never been aware, were valued by one of our consultants who assessed a reimbursement, with the benefit of legal interest, revaluation and capitalization, from the date of issue to that of the discovery, of a figure equal to approximately 29 euros, compared to the approximately 000,00 thousand euros offered by Poste Italiane (see calculation on the Poste website).
The woman gave a mandate to “Giustitalia” to act in order to recover the sum from the Bank of Italy and the Ministry of Finance, jointly and severally liable to “honor” all debts existing even before the advent of the Italian Republic.
In fact, the two bodies are jointly liable not only for the government bonds issued during the period of the Italian Republic, but also during the period of the Kingdom of Italy.
Just to offer some statistics: In Italy there are approximately 10 million “Old” Credit Securities (including postal savings certificates, bank books, Treasury bills, etc., uncollected and still collectible) and, unfortunately, there is a lot of misinformation even on the part of the Authorities responsible for payment.
Here is a short vademecum for the saver:
Is it possible to obtain a refund on “old” securities such as savings books, bonds and government bonds in general?
Yes, it is possible for the owner or his heirs to request reimbursement, increased by interest in addition to monetary revaluation, provided that the 10-year limitation period has not expired. This period does not necessarily start from the date of issue of the title but from when the owner is able to assert his right. In particular, even if the title was issued more than 10 years ago, but the interested party has "found" it only recently (i.e. in the last 10 years) he can act for reimbursement of the same and the limitation period will start to run from the moment of finding it.
How much can an “old” title be worth today?
This is a question to which it is not possible to give a univocal answer without the help of an expert accounting consultant who proceeds to the evaluation of the individual title in relation to the year of issue, the rate expected for that type of title, the succession of laws over time, the periods of evaluation and monetary devaluation, the introduction of the single European currency and to as many additional coefficients. In principle, one can have a rough indication of the current value of one's title by considering the purchasing power that the lira had at the time of issue of the aforementioned title. In other words, always in general terms, the owner or heir would have the right to obtain today the equivalent of that sum of money, translated into euros, which at the time of issue of the title would have allowed him to purchase a certain good. For example, if in the 40s you could buy agricultural land with 1.000 lire, today with the revalued and recapitalized sum you would be entitled to obtain a sum of money in euros that would allow you to buy land of the same type.
If there are multiple heirs or co-owners for one or more securities, must they all participate in the refund request?
No, the participation of even just one co-heir or co-owner is sufficient and will collect the entire sum and then eventually balance it out with the other heirs or owners.
How do you prove that the title was found within the last 10 years?
In the information forms sent by the Association, it is specified to indicate a person (even a family member) who is aware of the place and period of the finding of the title. This name, together with the circumstance of time and place of the finding, must be indicated in writing to the Association through a specific declaration to be attached to the requested documentation.
For which securities can a refund be requested?
First of all, it should be noted that in general all securities can be cashed, even those issued under the Kingdom of Italy.
Among the most “frequent” ones we deal with, in addition to the classic bank and postal savings books, we recall postal savings bonds, public debt certificates of the Kingdom of Italy, public debt certificates of the Italian State, redeemable loans, etc.
Is it possible to request a refund of bank savings books issued by banks that no longer exist?
Yes, it is possible to request a refund even for bank savings books issued by banks that no longer exist by forwarding the request to the Bank of Italy as the guarantor of the obligations of the Credit Institutions.
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