Lost Accounts

Ten core pledges

The ten core pledges made by banks and building societies in respect of dormant accounts and lost savings are set out in full below.

1. If you have a savings or current account and you have not made any withdrawals or deposits for a set period (usually at least three years) and the bank or building society has not heard from you during that time, it will write at least once to the most recent address it holds for you to ask if you want to keep the account open (unless mail has previously been returned from that address). It may also make other attempts to trace you.

2. If your reply is that you want to keep your account open, the bank or building society will continue to treat your account as ‘live’, sending you statements and other correspondence in the normal way.

3. If the bank or building society receives no reply from you after a set period, usually between six weeks and three months, your account may be considered ‘lost’ and the bank or building society will treat your account differently from a ‘live’ account. This is to protect you:

it can stop fraud and identity theft - it is not good practice to send out statements, cheque books and other material to an out-of-date address, where other people could try to access your account or use the correspondence for other fraudulent purposes
it can safeguard your privacy by not allowing confidential information to go to an old address.

4. If your account is considered ‘lost’, the bank or building society will retain a record of the account.

5. The funds in the account remain your property. If you make a valid claim the funds in it will be paid to you in full, with interest (if it is an interest-bearing account).

6. On receiving your application to search for a lost account, each bank or building society that you identify will conduct a search of its records to see whether any matches the details you have provided.

7. When you send an application form to reclaim funds from a lost account you will be:

contacted should further information be required
advised as quickly as possible - and in any event within three months of receipt of your form - of the outcome of your search.

8. If a bank or building society agrees that you have a valid claim on an account that it holds the bank or society will tell you:

the balance of the account
the amount of interest which has accrued if it is an interest-bearing account and
how you can access the funds (including any interest) in the account.

9. The Government's dormant accounts scheme may apply to your account if you have not paid any money in to or out of the account for more than 15 years. Under this scheme money in genuinely lost accounts will be made available for use by Big Society Bank and other community causes. This will not affect your right to access the money in the account.

10. If you are dissatisfied with the way a bank or building society has dealt with a claim you will have the right to appeal through its internal appeals process. If your appeal is unsuccessful, you have the right to refer the matter to the Financial Ombudsman Service, South Quay Plaza, 183 Marsh Wall, London, E14 9SR, Telephone: 0845 080 1800
Website: www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk

Points to bear in mind:

Different procedures apply in the case of business and charity customers - please consult your bank or building society if you require more details.
Some banks or building societies will contact you as detailed in pledge one only if the balance in your account is above a certain amount - such as £25.
Where a building society lost account is reinstated, your continuity of membership could have been interrupted.

It may be that there are legal steps you need to take before you are entitled to exercise your claim on another person's lost account. In that case the bank or building society will tell you this; you may also need the services of a solicitor to help you.