Tracing Your Forgotten Money

Finance companies are sitting on billions of pounds in unclaimed assets. And, unless you claim it, it could soon be used to help the poor.

A couple of years ago, the Chancellor of the Exchequer came up with the idea of using the billons of pounds lying in dormant savings accounts across the UK to help combat poverty.

As you might imagine the overall reaction was rather mixed, ranging from those who welcomed the idea of using money abandoned or forgotten to those who thought Gordon Brown had a cheek to think he could make off with other people's money regardless of whether they were dead or not.

No-one knows how much is lying around in unclaimed assets but estimates go as high as £20 billion, a sum of money that invariably boosts the profits of banks, building societies and insurance companies.

At any rate, the government set up the Commission for Unclaimed Assets to investigate the plan and last month they came up with the idea of a 'Social Investment Bank' which would dish out grants and cheap loans using money from dormant accounts to charities and voluntary organisations working in disadvantaged communities. The plan is under consultation at the moment but as it was welcomed by the government no doubt it'll be implemented any time soon.

For those worried that they may ultimately lose funds that they've forgotten about, the Commission stated categorically that people should always be able to claim their assets, including any interest due, regardless of when they come forward to claim them.

So if, when clearing out the attic of your late grandmother's house, you discover an old passbook for an account purporting to contain thousands of pounds that you knew nothing about, there'll be nothing to stop you from claiming it. Phew!

Whether it will be that easy is another matter. Financial institutions may argue that their records don't go back far enough to establish whether money was withdrawn or not.

Looking for lost money? Find out how to get your money back.