There is a treasure trove of over £10 billion in the UK just sitting there waiting for us to claim it. That is the amount is in dormant bank accounts, forgotten pensions, unclaimed inheritances and investments and even over payments to energy companies.
The unclaimed sums are quite staggering – £41m in premium bonds, £153m in energy overpayments; £850m in current and savings accounts, £2.4b in inheritances, £3bn in pensions and £4bn in shares!
The internet can provide a great (and quick) way of trying to track down this lost money. It is important to make sure you are searching through the official sites. There are many copycat sites that look very much like the real thing – and may charge search fees or a share of any money that comes your way.
Part of the reason so much money remains unclaimed is that we are unaware that it is there, and unaware it could be ours, especially in the case of inheritances. Despite the problems it causes, many people still die “intestate” – without making a will.
There is usually a time limit of 12 years on making a claim; otherwise, the money goes to the Treasury. Last year (2013-14), £14.5m was added to its coffers from unclaimed estates.
With the popularity of family genealogy, we are becoming more aware of ancestors and relatives we knew little or nothing about.
Recently, the government, through Her Majesty’s Court and Tribunals Service (HMCTS) put 41 million wills, going back 156 years, online.
The period from 1996 was already available on the internet. Last year the hand-written wills of 280,000 First World War soldiers were added ahead of the centenary of the 1914-18 conflict.
Now this database goes back to 1858, the year the Probate Service records began. As well as checking on family and friends, the wills of the famous, such as Winston Churchill (who left £304,004 [around £5.3m today] in 1965), Charles Dickens and Enigma code-breaker Alan Turing, are available to study.
AA Milne, creator of Winnie the Pooh, died in 1956, his will details leaving shares of his future royalties and the copyright of his work to the Garrick Club and Westminster School.
Access to such private thoughts and actions may surprise many, but, with a few exceptions, a will is a public document. Reading these wills is not free though. Users, having created an account, can search the database and then buy copies of the wills they want for £10 a time.
Not all this searching costs money. The Treasury hosts a free service called Bona Vacantia (ownerless goods) that details the 13,585 estates that have remained unclaimed since 1997.
Only relatives can claim and as you might expect, there is a fair amount of supporting paperwork required, such as birth and marriage certificates, plus as much detail about the deceased that you can provide.
Perhaps the most astonishing amount is the £7bn that makes up unclaimed pensions and investments. Old pensions are easier to track down as the Department of Work and Pensions has a free service (gov.uk/find-lost-pension, 0845 600 2537).
The website searches a database of over 200,000 scheme administrators. In 2013-14, the site conducted 144,169 searches, of which 125,502 were successful (the search takes around four days).
Please note the DWP service does not include personal pensions. Experian runs the Unclaimed Assets Register. Each search costs £25, but it covers all types of pension, as well as shares, investment funds and life policies. Unfortunately, some companies, like Standard Life and HSBC are not included in the Experian’s list of 85 companies covered.
Forgotten investments are even more difficult to track down as there is no “one-stop” shop operated by the industry.
Last year Equiniti, one of the three main share registers, returned more than £61m to over 67,000 shareholders.
National Savings Investments (NS&I) have combined with the British Bankers Association (BBA) and the Building Societies Association (BSA) and created the website mylostaccount.org.uk.
This service covers all building societies and 42 banks in the UK, as well as NS&I and old Post office Savings Bank accounts. How many of us have old building society passbooks, with perhaps a balance of a few pounds, languishing in the back of desk drawers?
Searching for “buried” treasure is all very well, but just as financially rewarding is to look at ways of saving money (quite large amounts), by checking your current financial commitments and getting new quotes.
Too often, we accept the new premium from our current insurer without taking the time to see what else might be on offer.
That is particularly true with insurance, whether that’s house, contents, travel, car or pet. It costs nothing, other than a little time, to sit in front of your computer and study the alternatives.
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is investigating whether insurers take advantage of those who do not use the internet to compare deals. “We are in the middle of a large-scale trial on what type of information provided when insurance is up for renewal best supports consumers,” said the FCA.
Martyn James, of the Financial Ombudsman Service, added: “We cannot emphasise this point enough – you will get little, if anything for staying loyal at renewal time and you may find you’re paying much more over time.”
It’s the same with your energy, broadband and mobile phone suppliers. Many have found that it’s cheaper to abandon signing up for the satellite TV packages and go instead for a set-top box with Freeview or Freesat instead. Often we are paying for packages that we are not watching.
The biggest savings could come with loans. Mortgages have rarely been as cheap, as is other types of borrowing, whether personal loans or credit cards. Currently, Nationwide are offering a 10-year year fixed mortgage at a rate of 2.84% to existing customers.
As ever, the specialist advice of an Independent Financial Adviser (IFA) should be taken before making changes to your financial situation. We all want to make sensible investments, but saving money can be just as important – and discovering money we didn’t know we had can be a real bonus and windfall!
Our advisers are here to help you so please do get in touch. To contact our Northern Ireland office, call 028 6863 2692; our Cornwall office – 01872 222422 and you can reach our Southampton office on 023 8064 9674. If you prefer to email, please contact us on info@wwfp.net.
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