The banking industry has set up a website to help reunite savers with an estimated £900 million languishing in lost or forgotten accounts.
Set up by the British Bankers' Association (BBA), the Building Societies Association (BSA) and National Savings & Investments (NS&I), www.mylostaccount.org.uk is a free service that is available to anyone.
If you suspect you have some funds languishing in a long forgotten account, then you need to act soon. As of 2009, the government will start transferring funds from accounts that have been inactive for 15 years or more into a central account to be used for community projects.
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Massive sums still unclaimedIt is estimated that there is roughly £466 million lying dormant with NS&I alone, with a further £300 million in bank accounts and £150 million in building society ones.
So if you suspect you have a lost account, visit the site and fill out an online form providing as much detail as possible. The site also offers a host of tips to help you locate those elusive funds:
• If you can, submit the claim online. This enables mylostaccount.org.uk to forward the claim to the relevant institutions with minimal administration and assists the internal search made by the institutions.
• If only one institution is involved, we recommend that you make your claim direct to them. But we are happy for you to use this central service if it is easier for you to do so.
• Remember that an account opened many years ago may not have been in your current married name.
• Remember that the account may have been opened while you were at a previous address.
• If known, give the sort code and account number. To put your search into context, there are 150 million bank and building society accounts in the UK and anywhere up to half a million dormant or lost accounts.
• Accounts opened by parents and grandparents on your behalf may be jointly in their names; where relevant, they may also be in your maiden name.
• If the account holder is still alive we will need to establish that you have their express authority to undertake the search and/or the appropriate legal authority.
• Information about account types and passbooks helps narrow down the search.
• Club and charity accounts may be in the name of the club or charity and are best dealt with through direct contact with the specific bank or building society.
• The institution will ask you to verify your ID in the event of an account being found.
• If you live overseas and don’t visit the UK, or cannot otherwise visit a branch, special arrangements may need to be made in support of your proving your ID.
• You can make a quick and ready search for outstanding NS&I Premium Bond prizes online using the prize checker at www.nsandi.com.
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