Unclaimed assets

An estimated £15 billion in unclaimed assets are thought to be sitting in financial institutions throughout the UK; funds long forgotten by their rightful owners. In December 2005 The Commission on Unclaimed Assets was established to determine the best way to reunite consumers with dormant accounts and create a framework to reinvest any remaining unclaimed assets back into the community. In April 2007 the Commission, together with the National Consumer Council, released a joint report – ‘Unclaimed Assets: Consumer Protection and Regulation of Dormant Accounts’ – setting out their findings and proposals.

Reunifying unclaimed assets

An opinion poll was performed as part of the research, which revealed 1 in 3 people in Britain believe they have a dormant account of some description. With this is mind the report recommended that it was essential an intensive asset reunification program be carried out prior to unclaimed assets being reinvested into the community.

“We recommend that as part of Treating Customers Fairly and Know Your Customer, financial institutions use more pro-active means to locate customers that have gone-away”

Source: Unclaimed Assets: Consumer Protection and Regulation of Dormant Accounts – April 2007

Following this study and a period of parliamentary debate on unclaimed assets, the Dormant Bank and Building Society Accounts Bill received Royal Assent, becoming an Act in November 2008.

Asset reunification solutions

Actively reuniting customers with unclaimed assets is beneficial to all concerned; banks and building societies project a positive corporate image and retain custom, consumers are happily reunited with long forgotten money, and any remaining funds are reinvested into the community.

Tracesmart Corporate offer a complete range of services exclusively for asset reunification programs and have already successfully driven asset reunification campaigns for a selection of blue chip companies.

If you would like to apportion your unclaimed assets and embark on a productive asset reunification program, contact us today. To highlight how successful your campaign can be, we are happy to carry out a free data audit of your dormant accounts.