How to trace lost money
In the UK it’s estimated that millions of pounds lie unclaimed in around half a million inactive accounts. It’s free and easy to check whether you have any dormant bank accounts, insurance policies, pensions or premium bonds, so if you think you may have a lost account it’s definitely worth finding out. You could find you have a significant amount of money you didn’t know about.
How can an account become lost?
It’s easy to lose touch with one or more of your accounts. Perhaps you’ve moved addresses or you may have had an account opened for you as a child that you’ve forgotten about.
An account can be lost or marked as ‘inactive’ if:
- a financial institution hasn’t been able to contact you – most commonly because you’ve changed addresses and haven’t notified them of your new address
- there has been no activity on your account for a few years (such as deposits or withdrawals)
Even if an account has been marked inactive for several years, the money in it is still yours and you are entitled to claim it at any time.
What should I do now?
For more information call Age Cymru Advice on 0300 303 44 98