Get Your Hands On Some Extra Cash!

Millions of pounds are knocking about in forgotten accounts and some of it might be yours! Here's how to reclaim it.

Do you ever find yourself putting your hand down the back of the sofa in a desperate attempt to find some spare cash? Or maybe you have a habit of going through your pockets every now and then, hoping in vain you might find a tenner you'd forgotten about.

But has it ever crossed your mind that you might actually have some money sitting in a bank account you don't even remember opening? And it's likely to be a lot more than a few pennies hiding down the sofa.

It's estimated that more than £850 million is currently lying unclaimed in lost accounts in the UK -- that's a lot of money! What's more, although more than one in ten of us think we have forgotten funds, 60% of us have yet to do anything about it.

Dormant accounts

A dormant account -- or unused account -- refers to an account that has been inactive for an extended period and the bank running the account has been unable to contact the account holder. To prevent fraud or ID theft, once an account has been declared dormant it can no longer be operated.

Under the Dormant Bank and Building Society Accounts Act, which comes into effect this year, any money which has been left dormant in accounts for more than 15 years will be moved into a central fund. The money will then be used to finance a range of public/social programmes.

Although it may seem strange that you could have an account you've forgotten about, it is actually fairly easy to do. One of the most common reasons for losing track of an account is failing to update your bank or building society with your new contact details when you move house. Some people also forget about childhood savings accounts they have. And with banks and building societies regularly merging, it can make tracking down your savings extremely tricky!

But if you do think you might have some cash trapped in a neglected account somewhere, don't assume that it's lost forever. It's not -- in fact, there's plenty you can do to claim back what is rightfully yours! Even if the money has been moved into the central fund I mentioned above, it's still your property and you can still reclaim it at any time.

Get your money back!

This Friday (30 January) marks the first birthday of the lost account tracing website, mylostaccount.org.uk. The site was designed to make it easier for people to search for lost accounts, and since its launch, it has averaged over 680 claims per day.

The website combines the tracing services of the British Banker's Association, the Building Societies' Association (BSA) and National Savings and Investments (NS&I) -- covering almost all bank, building society and NS&I accounts in the UK.

Making a claim on the website is free, and all you need to do is fill out an online form providing as much detail as possible about the account -- including any previous names and addresses of the account holder. It can take up to three months to carry out a search, but if your money is found, you'll immediately be contacted and your account will be reactivated.

Certain banks have also been doing their bit to help customers with lost accounts. HSBC launched a campaign last September, and has helped to return more than £5.5 million to 3,500 customers. And, not to be outdone, Lloyds Banking Group also announced this week it has reunited customers £23 million to date.

Other unclaimed assets

Of course your lost funds might not only be tied up in savings and current accounts. Many people have forgotten about money in pensions, shares and life policies. And that's where the Unclaimed Assets Register (UAR) comes in. The UAR is a database of unclaimed life policies, pensions, unit trust holdings, and share dividends drawn from many companies.

Even if you can't remember the name of the company concerned, or your paperwork has miraculously disappeared down some black hole, the UAR may still be able to help. The only snag is that you will have to pay a fixed fee of £25 for every search carried out.

Alternatively, Directgov has its own free pension tracing service which provides access to a database of over 200,000 occupational and personal pension schemes.

So if you do think you might have some money lurking in a dormant account somewhere, don't delay -- put in a claim today! After all, at a time when all of us are tightening the purse-strings, who wouldn't want to get their hands on some extra cash?

Useful contacts

Mylostaccount - email info@mylostaccount.org.uk or visit mylostaccount.org.uk

British Bankers' Association - call 020 7216 8909 or visit www.bba.org.uk

Building Societies Organisation - call 020 7520 5900 or visit www.bsa.org.uk

National Savings and Investments - call 0845 964 5000 or visit www.nsandi.com

Pension Tracing Service - call 0845 6002 537 or visit http://www.thepensionservice.gov.uk/

The Unclaimed Assets Register - call 0870 241 1713 or visit http://www.uar.co.uk/

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