Wealth

It’s estimated that over £20 billion lies unclaimed in the UK. With a little detective work you can track down lost money that could be yours
You might be wondering how so much money can go unclaimed? Pretty easy really.
You set up a savings account with every intention of regularly depositing money into it. Very soon after the enthusiasm dwindles and deposits stop- especially when you’re young. The account is forgotten, you move house a couple of times and the bank which has your money takes a less than proactive approach in finding the rightful owner. With interest that initial savings could now be worth considerably more. Instead the bank has it. Dormant bank accounts like this account for over £5 billion in unclaimed money
But it’s not just bank accounts. Money can go unclaimed for many reasons, including:
- You leave a company a lose contact with a pension scheme
- Relatives set up savings plans you’re unaware of
- Dividends from shares are unclaimed
- You were paying a policy but lost the paperwork or forgot the company name
- Your partner or relative had a life insurance policy or pension you were unaware of
Bank Accounts, Building Society Accounts,National Savings & Premium Bonds
These are generally easy to trace, as there are good systems already in place to help you do this
If you know which provider your account was with, all you need to do is collect a tracing form from any branch, or print one off from the British Bankers’ Association or Building Societies Association websites. It’s only one page long, and asks you the name of the account holders, the addresses lived at since the account was opened, the account number and sort code, and type of account. You don’t have to provide all the information, but the more you can give, the more likely they are to be able to find any unclaimed money. Send the form directly to the bank or building society or take it to any branch
If the provider finds an account that matches your information, it’ll contact you to explain how you can access the unclaimed funds, including any interest, in the account. You’ll need to provide proof of identity in order to access the money
NS&I also runs a tracing service for unclaimed money. You simply fill out a two-page form but it can take up to 12 months for a response
If you don’t know or are unsure which provider your lost account is with, or the organisation no longer exists, then try mylostaccount.org.uk. You can search 42 banks, all UK building societies and all NS&I products free of charge by completing just one form online. The search can take up to 12 weeks to complete. If an account in your name is found, you’ll be contacted directly by the provider within 90 days
If you prefer not to do it online, you can use the postal services operated by the British Bankers’ Association, Building Societies Association and the NS&I but you’ll need to complete a separate form for each
Pensions
If you’ve think you’ve got a lost pension somewhere in teh ether, use the Pension Tracing Service operated by the Department for Work and Pensions. It has access to over 200,000 occupational and personal schemes and is very easy to use. All you need to know is the name of your previous employer or pension scheme – although if you can give more information, it will improve your chances of finding a current address for the scheme
What the tracing service can’t do is tell you if you actually have any pension benefit with the particular scheme you’re looking for. It simply gives you a contact address for the administrators of the scheme and then it’s up to you to contact them directly
Premium Bonds
With over £30 million in unclaimed premium bond prizes, it’s worth checking that you haven’t missed out on a prize. There’s no time limit for claiming. NS&I attempts to contact all winners, but can only do so if they have their current contact details. If you know your holder’s number, you can check using the online premium bonds prize checker. If you don’t have any documentation, but believe you have some premium bonds, then you can use a tracing request form, available on the NS&I website. You can use the same form to check whether a deceased investor had any premium bonds. Alternatively, you can use mylostaccount.org.uk to do a search
Shares and dividends
Tracing shares and dividends is more complex than finding lost bank accounts or pensions, but it can be done. If you think you have shares in a company, but have lost your share certificate, you can check by applying to the company registrars. They’ll search their records and, for a fee, will supply you with a replacement certificate
There are three main share registrars – Capita Registrars, Computershare and Equiniti. You can find out which registrar deals with the company you’re interested in by using the company profile search on the London Stock Exchange’s website. Alternatively, call the company in question
If you’ve got old share certificates in a company that you can no longer track down, contact the registrars named on the certificate. Usually, they’ll be able to trace the history of the company. They’ll also be able to search for any unclaimed dividends that you may have missed. Failing that, try calling each of the three big registrars
If you have any out-of-date dividend cheques, or you’ve lost any dividend cheques, you can ask the registrar to replace them for you – there may be a fee for this. The time limit for claiming back unclaimed dividends is usually 12 years. Computershare also operates the government’s scheme for tracing lost gilts. If you think you have a claim, write to Computershare giving as much information as possible
Building society windfalls
There are still loads of people who haven’t claimed their share entitlement following building society and life company demutualisations. Time has run out for many as after 12 years, the entitlement (which will now be to cash rather than shares) reverts to the company and can be used for general purposes
If you want to claim after this time, you’d need to satisfy the court that you’re entitled to the money. Bradford and Bingley went public in 2000, which means that the 12-year time limit runs out this year. If you think you may have a claim, contact the provider concerned
Likewise, there are some unclaimed shares in life companies, such as Friends Provident and Standard Life, which have also demutualised. Standard Life launched a campaign in September 2008 to find 200,000 people who have yet to claim a total of £184 million. If you think you may have a claim, contact these companies directly
Life insurance
Tracking down old life insurance policies when you don’t have any policy details can be quite tricky, as the life insurance industry doesn’t operate a tracing service. The Association of British Insurers (ABI) suggests that you try the Unclaimed Assets Register, which has details of some unclaimed life policies. Of course, if you know the name of the company concerned, you can approach them directly. The ABI has a company directory which you can use to get up-to-date contact details
Friendly societies
Friendly societies are mutual organisations offering savings and investments. There were hundreds of them in the early 1950s, but many of these have since merged or transferred their business. If you come across an old friendly society policy, it’s quite likely that the friendly society no longer exists. But you can try to track down what’s happened to the policy by contacting the Association of Financial Mutuals (AFM), which has a back register of some mergers and transfers
If you don’t have any policy details, but believe you, or perhaps a deceased relative, had a policy with a friendly society, you will be able to use the search service set up by the AFS called My Assets Reunited. The drawback is that it doesn’t cover every Friendly Society. Some that aren’t included already provide information to the Unclaimed Assets Register
The Unclaimed Assets Register
An Experian company, the Unclaimed Assets Register has a database of more than three million unclaimed life policies, pensions, unit trust holdings, and share dividends drawn from many companies.For £25, you can search their dataabase. You’ll just need your current name and address and any previous ones. You can also search on behalf of someone else, provided you’re legally entitled to do so. You can check which companies supply information on the website
For your £25, a search of the whole database is conducted, and where a match occurs you’ll be given details of the provider and how to contact them. Successful searches reunite people with an average of £6,000
Although having to pay for this service isn’t ideal, this search does help you to look for some of the products that are harder to track down, and is particularly useful if you don’t have any details of the investment or policy. If your search isn’t successful, that doesn’t mean you have no unclaimed assets, just that you have none with the companies who have provided details to UAR
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April 18, 2012
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