If a bank account is left untouched for a long period of time, then chances are the financial institution it’s held with will declare it “dormant”.
Ultimately, if the account is in credit and you leave it for long enough, your money held in it can be reclaimed and invested in social enterprises across the UK.
The only way to stop your accounts from going dormant is to use them. For most people that won’t be an issue – but there are several reasons why someone might not use their account, resulting in it becoming dormant.
Here, Telegraph Money explains what a dormant bank account is, and what the steps are for tracking down one you may have forgotten about.
- What are dormant bank accounts?
- How to find a dormant bank account in three steps
- Do dormant bank accounts get closed?
- FAQs
What are dormant bank accounts?
A bank account will be declared dormant if there has been no activity initiated by the customer for a specified period of time. This means there will have been no payments into the account, no withdrawals or payments from the account, and no communication from the account holder.
The exact amount of time differs depending on the bank or building society, but it typically ranges from about two years to as much as 15 years.
Although it can seem strange, there are several reasons that someone might have forgotten about an account.
Those opened by parents for their children, for example, are all-too-easily forgotten about, or perhaps if you’ve moved house or changed names they could be forgotten if correspondence about the account no longer reaches you.
From a bank’s point of view, there are good reasons to close dormant accounts, as they could be used for fraud or identity theft.
Typically, if a bank declares a bank account dormant, it will be closed. If it has a positive balance, the money will be moved to a holding account. Account owners can usually reclaim this money from the bank by getting in touch – most providers will have a form to fill in for this purpose.
After 15 years, cash in dormant accounts is taken by the Reclaim Fund, which takes unclaimed assets and passes the monetary value to the Big Lottery Fund to be invested in good causes and social enterprises. It keeps back some of the cash to pay any claims to people who come forward, even after all those years.
If you do not know whether you might have a dormant account, or don’t know how to reclaim the money, then follow the steps below.
How to find a dormant bank account in three steps
- Use an account tracing service to track them down
- Submit your details to stake your claim
- Stay patient while your claim is processed
Step 1: Use My Lost Account to trace old accounts
If you know the name of the bank or building society you used to hold an account with, then you should get in touch.
If you aren’t sure if you have a dormant account, or which provider it’s held with, then you can use the My Lost Account service to find out. This free service was established by NS&I and two banking trade bodies, UK Finance and the Building Societies Association (BSA), to help people find lost accounts.
The service only works for banks which are members of either the British Bankers’ Association (most of the major banks) or the Building Societies Association, which comprises all of the country’s building societies.
NS&I savings products are included, but note that NS&I also has its own tracing service to help reunite people with lost accounts. This can also help you track down unclaimed Premium Bonds prizes.
Step 2: Submit your details to stake your claim
If you’ve opted for My Lost Account, you’ll next need to fill in the application form with your details.
You will need to provide a fair amount of information like your name, the type of account you are searching for, and any account numbers or sort codes you might have.
If you do not have access to any information, then you can still use the service. However, the more information you can provide, the more likely it is that the service will be able to find your lost account.
Therefore, it’s worth doing a search of any old records or paperwork that might contain clues to old accounts, in case it helps with the search.
Step 3: Stay patient as your claim is processed
You should receive the result of your search within three months.
If it turns out you do indeed have an account you’ve lost contact with, you will need to be even more patient when it comes to actually receiving the money.
If you have a claim against a dormant account and it is approved, then you’ll be told how much and how to claim.
You should receive any interest which should have accrued on the account during the period the account has been dormant.
If you think you have a right to funds in a dormant account but your bank disagrees – or you feel it has not done enough to help you reclaim the funds – then you should complain – to the institution in the first instance and, if it fails to resolve the complaint adequately, to the Financial Ombudsman Service, which will adjudicate.
Do dormant bank accounts get closed?
If an account is dormant for long enough, then it will be closed. This is to protect consumers from issues such as identity theft and fraud, which ignored or forgotten accounts could be ripe for.
After 15 years, any positive balances in a dormant account could be transferred into the Reclaim Fund and reinvested into good causes across the country via the National Lottery.
This does not mean that the money is lost, however. If you think you have a claim on a dormant account older than 15 years, simply follow the steps above – contact the bank with which the account was held or use the My Lost Account service.
The Reclaim Fund sets some of the funding aside to pay out claims before transferring it across to the National Lottery Fund, so you should not be left out of pocket.
FAQs
Can I trace the accounts of someone who has died?
If you’re an executor or an heir of someone who has passed away, the first port of call should be the providers that held the accounts for the deceased. If there’s not enough information to contact them with, then you can also use My Lost Account.
How can I find lost foreign accounts?
The My Lost Account service is just for accounts in the UK, so if the account is held overseas, you’ll either need to contact the provider directly or find an equivalent tracing service, should one exist in the country in question.
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