Customers waking up to forgotten cash

Consumers are flocking to track down forgotten cash as banks step up efforts to reunite customers with money in dormant accounts in the run-up to the Government’s unclaimed assets scheme.

Claims through the British Bankers Association’s free account tracking service have increased more than thirty-fold following an awareness drive by banks, building societies and National Savings & Investments.

An average of 400 customers are now claiming online each day – similar to the total number for the entire month of June – with hundreds more claiming by post, as customers wake up to forgotten assets worth an estimated £350 million to £500 million.

The money is often held in long-forgotten school savings accounts, or old bank books that come to light when account holders move house or loved ones go into care or pass away.

BBA Chief Executive Angela Knight CBE said: “Money in dormant accounts still belongs to the customer. Even if you’ve forgotten it, the money is yours. My advice is to pick up the phone, or get online, to the BBA and we’ll help you find it.

“It doesn’t matter how old the account is, how little money is in it, or even if the branch or bank has closed, our experts are trained to track it down for you.”

Last year there were nearly 150,000 visits to the dormant account pages of the BBA website, and there were more another 100,000 visits in the first half of this year. The BBA’s scheme has already handled over 40,000 claims, and its telephone helpline has fielded over 80,000 enquiries.

The BBA’s account tracking service says the top reasons for dormant account claims include:

moving house and forgetting to tell the bank;
finding old bank books when someone goes into care or dies; and
thinking the sums involved are too small to worry about.