What a feckless lot we Brits are. Is there any other nation on earth that could just ‘forget’ about £15.3bn of theirown money?
This is the estimated total value of assets lying unclaimed in pensions, life policies, endowments, shares and dividends, National Savings, various lotteries, dormant bank and building society accounts, according to the Unclaimed Assets Register.
The reasons why people loose touch with their own money are clear. On average we move home every seven years, but are extremely bad at informing financial institutions and former pension schemes, of changes of name and address.
When we go abroad for a few years we also tend to forget about accounts or even worse, lots of us hold secret accounts that we don’t tell our partners and spouses about, which means they can go undetected by our executors when we die.
But the banks and building societies are now under pressure from the government to redouble their efforts to re-unite us with forgotten accounts, but I wouldn’t hold your breath. Last year, HSBC admitted that the value of forgotten accounts had boosted its profits, so it is unlikely to be in a hurry to release this money.
That said, the British Bankers’ Association, the Building Societies Association and National Savings all carry details of how to trace lost accounts on their websites.
Another call to action could be Gordon Brown’s avowed intention to introduce legislation in the next session of Parliament which would force banks and building societies to hand over unclaimed assets to a charitable foundation which he wants to benefit urban youth projects.
Of course, you will still be able to claim your money even after this cut off point.. Even so, it’s a useful wake-up call to get your affairs in order, or those of deceased relatives.
You could even use it as an excuse to confront your spouse or partner about any secret accounts you think they hold. In the meantime, here are some useful links to get started…..
Bank accounts:
http://www.bba.org.uk/bba/jsp/polopoly.jsp?d=144
Building societies:
http://www.bsa.org.uk/consumer/factsheets/100948.htm
http://www.bsa.org.uk/dormant.htm
National Savings:
http://www.nsandi.com/help/tracing_service.jsp
Endowments, insurance policies, shares and dividends, unit trustss, company and personal pensions:
http://www.uar.co.uk/next.htm
Company pensions:
http://www.thepensionservice.gov.uk
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