Forgotten bank accounts? Lost pension pots and Premium Bonds?

With billions in lost assets in the UK alone – it’s definitely worth searching for any accounts that you might have forgotten about or never known existed. Mr Financial has some top tips below.

Forgotten bank accounts? Lost pension pots and Premium Bonds?

There are figures in the public domain that predict there’s up to £15 billion unclaimed financial assets throughout the UK in old pensions, Premium Bonds, insurance policies, life assurances, investments, pensions or inheritence. This lost money is actually very easy to find and very easy to claim. You can also search not only for lost money connected to yourself but more importantly, a deceased relative.

There’s actually so much lost cash in the system that the Government has started to use it. They have set up a 'Big Society fund' for social and community causes using money from accounts unused for more than 15 years. Even though the Government is using that money for good causes, it could still legally belong to you – you just have to find it!

HOW DO I KNOW IF I HAVE ONE AND HOW DO I FOUND LOST ASSETS?

When you move to a new house, you might have forgotten to change your address with a few providers. Therefore, when the letters are returned to sender, accounts can be declared “dormant”. The money will continue to be serviced by the provider, but you won’t have control over it. Once there has been no activity recorded for a set period of time (which varies according to bank and product), accounts are marked officially as dormant.

Generally speaking, 12 months is good guideline for inactivity on current accounts, and 3-5 years on savings accounts. Therefore, you’re probably never going to know about an unused account, unless you search for it.

DO I NEED TO PAY TO LOOK FOR ASSETS AND RECLAIM THOSE ASSETS?

It’s free to search for assets. While there are some companies out there that offer to do it for you – they can charge high fees. Mr Financial advises you do it yourself.

You can search for any lost asset and lots of companies provide search facilities for free online. These tools are tracing tools and you’ll most likely be asked to fill in information forms which can be time consuming but do persevere! There is a good service called My Lost Account which amalgamates lots of separate tools.

Once you’ve supplied the relevant information, banks and building societies promise to respond within three months.

I THINK I MIGHT HAVE SOME PREMIUM BONDS – WHAT SHOULD I DO?

According to figures, there’s £400 million in lost NS&I savings accounts and Premium Bonds.

You can use My Lost Account to search for Premium Bonds. They promise to revert within the month. The great thing is, once you’ve located your bonds, you should check if you have ever been winner! There’s also more than £50 million in unclaimed prizes! As an FYI, bonds that were bought more than 30 years ago probably will not have a holder's number they probably will just be individually numbered bonds. NS&I at that point can provide you with a holder number.

WHAT HAPPENS IF I HAVE OLD PENSIONS AND/OR INVESTMENTS?

When you job hop – you must remember to stay in touch with your pension providers. If your accounts are dormant for too long, they could be reclaimed before you retire.

There’s a service called The Pension Tracing Service which has access to most of the pension schemes available. Also, it’s worth remembering that if a close relative has passed away without withdrawing their pension you may be eligible for that pension fund too.

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