Halifax reunite over 5,000 customers with funds 'lost' in dormant accounts.
Current estimations suggest that an astounding £15billion is currently sitting unclaimed in dormant UK savings and current accounts. However, we Brits do seem to be getting the message with over 1/4million people seeking advice on tracing lost accounts from the British Bankers' Association in 2007 alone.
BBA statistics show that the organisation received three times the number of claims for lost funds in 2007 compared to those made during the previous year and have reunited over 20,000 individuals with their lost funds so far.
Dormant accounts are saving, current and investment accounts that have laid untouched and unidentified for at least 15 years. There are a number of reasons why an account could become dormant however the most common occurrence is when an account holder fails to notify their bank of a change of address.
Proposals are underway in parliament to put these unused funds towards developing new youth and community projects. While rightful owners will still be able to reclaim their money if this went ahead, the BBA are encouraging people who think they may have a 'lost' account to come forward and claim what's rightfully theirs.
Halifax, the largest savings provider in the UK have been doing their part too and since the launch of their dormant account scheme in February 2007 have managed to reunite over £14.4million with its rightful owners. This represents approximately a third of the £44million the bank held in its dormant accounts at the start of the scheme.
While the end of 2007 sees Halifax having returned an impressive average of £2,500 to over 5,000 of its 'dormant' customers, they understand that further action is needed. As such the bank has now shared details of its mislaid accounts with the Unclaimed Assets Register, a service run by credit company Experian designed to make finding lost accounts as straight forward as possible. The bank have also commissioned search agents to find the owners of it's remaining anonymous accounts at no extra cost to its customers.
If you believe that you, or a deceased relative may have a dormant account you should visit the British Bankers Association's website for further advice on how to trace old accounts.
