In banks across Britain millions of pounds are sitting dormant in lost accounts, waiting to be re-claimed by their rightful owners. We take you through how you can be reunited with yours.
It may be only a few pounds, or it may be thousands, but you could unknowingly be sitting on a significant chunk of money. Collectively, there is estimated to be millions of pounds currently lying in lost accounts up and down the country, and some of it could belong to you.
How do accounts become lost?
Accounts become classed as lost if they have seen no activity for a period of at least 15 years. During this time interest will still have been paid on any money you have deposited, so what was once a few pounds could be substantially more today.
Perhaps you opened an account as a child, most likely only depositing a small amount, and have since forgotten about it. It will have remained open all these years in your name accruing interest. Or perhaps there is an account open in your name that you aren’t even aware of, such as one opened by a relative when you were small.
It’s also possible that an account was opened by a relative of yours who has now passed away – that money could belong to you. Sometimes money is invested without a person’s spouse or relatives knowing about it, and when that person passes away the account is forgotten.
The most common cause for savings accounts becoming lost is when account-holders move away and neglect to inform the bank of their new address. However it is worth bearing in mind that banks do go to considerable lengths to try to contact you before classing your account as lost, especially if the account holds a sizeable amount.
They will utilise whatever information they have about you to try to get in contact when there is no response from an address held on records, but to continue doing so after a period of time would pose a security risk. Sending sensitive information such as account numbers to an address you clearly no longer occupy would be clumsy service on the part of the bank. It is in this way that savings accounts become lost.
How do I go about finding my lost money?
If you suspect that you have a lost account somewhere, the first thing to do is search your house for old cheque books and other paperwork connected to the bank you think an account may be held with. Anything that holds account numbers or details of that nature could be your first clue in the hunt for your forgotten savings.
If a relative has passed away you may find details of an account in their belongings. Any information you find, even if you do not come across specific account numbers, can be taken to your bank or building society in the next step of your search. Inform your bank of as much information as you can that might relate to your lost account, such as previous names and addresses.
If this unearths nothing there is a site you can use to seek out forgotten accounts. Mylostaccount.org combines tracing schemes set up by the BBA (British Bankers’ Association), the BSA (Building Societies Association) and NS&I (National Savings & Investments). Through this portal you can perform a search using any details you have to hand. The more information you have about a possible lost account, the more your chances of locating forgotten money will increase.
On Mylostaccount you can read up about the service offered and the ‘Ten Core Pledges’ set out by banks and building societies with regards to recovering lost savings. When you are ready, click ‘Search’ and you will be asked to enter your details relating to the suspected account. These details will be sent on to the institutions that could be holding your money.
If your money was held with a bank or building society that no longer exists, you can search for them on the BBA website to find out what has happened to them (and more importantly, your savings).
There is also a service which helps you locate accounts that were frozen during World War II and still have unclaimed money sitting in them. Visit the Restore website to find out more
What will happen to unclaimed savings?
Until this year, nothing – forgotten savings accounts have been sitting dormant for years steadily accruing interest. This is part of the reason that there is estimated to now be £850 million sitting in dormant accounts nationwide.
This year, though, that will all change, due to the government’s planned Unclaimed Assets Scheme. This scheme will merge all the money sitting in accounts that have been inactive for at least 15 years into one central fund, which will be used for community projects. Therefore now is a good time to seek out the money that is rightfully yours.
It is important to remember that money in a lost account will remain your property, however long it has been left dormant. So even if your money is absorbed into the Unclaimed Assets Scheme later this year, you can still claim it back through Mylostaccount. By law, money that belongs to you can never become the property of the bank or building society it is held with, however long it has been held there.
The Unclaimed Assets Register
If your hunt for forgotten money so far has been in vain, another avenue you can try is the Unclaimed Assets Register. This amasses information on unclaimed savings and investments in one searchable central database – however, to use this service you will be charged a fee (currently £25).
If all your other efforts have turned up nothing, and you suspect you could have a large amount waiting to be claimed, the fee may be worth it. The site works in the same way as Mylostaccount, with forms to fill in either online or by post, and relevant information then passed to the institutions in question.
What happens when I find lost savings?
If you are lucky enough to uproot forgotten money that belongs to you, you’ll be entitled to all the interest accrued in the time since the account was opened. Due to market fluctuations your money might be operating on a slow rate of interest. If it is an account you opened as a child, for example, it has probably been subsisting on just a trickle of interest for many years. So after locating it you may want to switch to a new provider to make sure it benefits from a better interest rate.
Accounts opened in your name, however long ago and regardless of changes of name since then, will still be in your name and the money will still belong to you. You’ll just need to provide identification, proving your current as well as previous names, and the money will be yours to claim.
If your found account became dormant through a house-move, try to keep your bank informed about new addresses in the future. Changes of address are the most common cause of savings accounts becoming lost, because you may forget about the account altogether, and banks can no longer contact you to find out if you want to keep the account open. Therefore your money passes into dormancy.
Take a look at our step by step guide: I want to find a lost account for more information on exactly what you need to do.
