Lost Accounts

Lost accounts occur where the accountholder and the building society have lost touch, for example, because the accountholder has moved house and forgotten to tell their building society. 

Sometimes you will see them referred to as 'dormant' accounts, but these are different: they are accounts where accountholder knows where their money is, but has not touched it. 

Building societies are homes for long-term savings, in which people tend to place their savings for safekeeping, and may choose not to make withdrawals for many years.  

Money in a building society always belongs to the accountholder.  It can be claimed at any time by them or if they  die, by a rightful claimant. 

The BSA estimates that up to £150 million is currently held in lost building society accounts.

Building societies take the issue of tracing the owners of lost accounts very seriously and the BSA runs a free account-tracing scheme, in which all 60 UK societies participate.  A leaflet explaining the scheme - with a form for tracing lost accounts - can be downloaded here

You can also get it from BSA's consumer line on 020 7437 0655.  Or you can pick up copy at your local building society branch.

The British Bankers' Association operates a similar tracing scheme.  You can get its leaflet from www.bba.org.uk

The use of unclaimed assets for good causes

HM Treasury issued consultation papers in March and May 2007 on its plans for a new voluntary unclaimed assets scheme. Under this scheme, banks' and building societies' lost accounts (or unclaimed assets) would - if still unclaimed after 15 years - be paid over to certain good causes, such as youth and community facilities and to promote financial inclusion and financial capability.  Importantly, the Treasury's propsals would safeguard the rights of account holders or their lawful heirs to reclaim the money in their  account at any time. 

The 15 year definition for unclaimed assets proposed by the Chancellor is sensible. The longer the timescale, the greater the likelihood that the accounts are genuinely lost, rather than merely dormant. 

The Treasury is proposing that locally-based financial institutions will be able to focus on the needs of the communities in which they operate. For building societies, this is a welcome element of the Treasury's proposals - building societies have close links with the communities from which their members are drawn and it is important that most building societies will be able to continue to support good causes in their local areas. As mutual organisations, lost account money in building societies is used collectively for the benefit of all members of a building society, funding good value mortgages, which currently allow 2.5 million people to purchase their own home.

The BSA has responded to the Treasury's March 2007 Consultation Paper on the proposed unclaimed assets scheme and its May 2007 Consultation Paper on the distribution of unclaimed assets. Our responses can viewed below