There is a pool of unclaimed assets in the United Kingdom in the form of forgotten bank accounts, unclaimed pension funds, unclaimed insurance policies and unclaimed premium bond prizes. The process for claiming lost funds is administered by government offices for each type of asset. By following a few simple tips, you will be well on your way to finding unclaimed money in the U.K.
Identify the names of family members who may be legally entitled to unclaimed funds in the U.K. These funds may be from accounts left at banks, pension administrators or national investment services. The institutions holding the unclaimed money may not have the current names and addresses of the fund holders.
Find lost bank accounts for you or your relatives by visiting the My Lost Account website (mylostaccount.org.uk) sponsored by the British Bankers' Association. This is a free service and the database contains links to all lost bank accounts from all U.K. banks. Click "Search" in the menu at the left of the page to complete a form claiming lost bank account money. This site can also be used to find building society accounts that have been lost.
Track lost pension funds by visiting or contacting the Pension Service office. This office is part of the Department for Work and Pensions. You can track pension benefits belonging to you or to a spouse or other relative. There are various methods for contacting the Pension Service office to request an unclaimed pension application: Use an online form to provide your contact information, call 011-44-191-215-4491 or write Pension Tracing Service, The Pension Service, Tyneview Park, Whitley Road, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE98 1BA. This is a free service provided by the U.K. government.
Claim lost premium bond prizes by visiting the National Savings and Investments (NS&I) website (nsandi.com). To find unclaimed prizes, you'll need to type a "holder's number" in the Premium Bonds prize checker in the right margin of the homepage. These prizes may go unclaimed because people move or change telephone numbers and the NS&I can't get in touch with them to deliver the prize.
References
- My Lost Account: About This Service
- Directgov: Pension Tracing Service Contact Number
- USA.gov. "Unclaimed Money from the Government." Accessed Feb. 1, 2020.
- Washington State. "Unclaimed Property: General Information." Accessed Feb. 1, 2020.
- U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. "Escheatment Process: Accounts -- Abandoned and Unclaimed." Accessed Feb. 1, 2020.
- National Association of Unclaimed Property Administrators. "What is unclaimed property?" Accessed Feb. 1, 2020.
- Office of the New York State Comptroller. "Annual Report of the Office of Unclaimed Funds," Page 1. Accessed Feb. 1, 2020.
- The New York Times. "There Are Billions in Unclaimed Assets Out There. Some Could Be Yours." Accessed Feb. 20, 2020.
- New York State Comptroller. "Office of Unclaimed Funds Fact Sheet." Accessed Feb. 20, 2020.
- Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts. "Texas Comptroller Announces Record $308 Million in Unclaimed Property Returned in Fiscal 2019." Accessed Feb. 20, 2020.
- PressConnects. "Unclaimed Funds: Most less than $100, but one Connecticut resident got missing $32.8 million." Accessed Feb. 20, 2020.
- Internal Revenue Service. "Where's My Refund?" Accessed Feb. 20, 2020.
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