Banks move to give back money
01/08/2007
Ever wondered what happened to the money in that school savings account you had in primary school, or found an old bank book when you were moving house?
Well, no need to wonder any longer. The British Bankers’ Association is launching a major drive to reunite people with money in dormant accounts. The Association already runs a free service which aims to match people to their cash, which is easily accessible from their website (linked below).
So far 40,000 people have used the BBA’s matching service to submit a claim. It has fielded twice that many telephone enquiries and the dormant accounts pages on the BBA website attracted 149,000 hits last year alone.
Chief Executive Angela Knight CBE said she hoped the campaign would highlight the fact that, even if an account is old, the sums involved small and the branch or bank closed, people could still get their money back.
Ms Knight said: “Money in dormant accounts up and down the country belongs to customers. I hope the British Bankers’ Association campaign will help highlight how people can reclaim their money. My advice to people would be to get on to the BBA’s website and claim now.
“The British Banker’s Association runs a free money match service which helps people reclaim money that is sitting around in dormant accounts up and down the country. So if you find an old bank book when you are moving house – get in touch. Don’t worry if the amounts are small or even if you find the bank has merged or the branch moved. Our experts here will help you get your money back.”
The BBA’s money match service said the top reasons for dormant account claims included:
* moving house and forgetting to tell the bank;
* finding old bank books when someone goes into care or dies; and
* thinking the sums involved were too small to worry about.
To find out more, log onto their website, linked below.