Money untouched for over 15 years in bank accounts has been funding good causes under the Dormant Assets Scheme that launched in 2011.
Around £600m has been transferred from High Street banks and building societies to support community initiatives across the UK. The Government is now planning to extend the scheme.
What Sectors Would Be Involved?
It is consulting on expanding the scheme to the following sectors:
- Insurance and pensions
- Investment and wealth management
- Securities
Assets proposed to be within the scope of the expansion include:
- Dormant insurance policy proceeds
- Dormant share proceeds
- Dormant unit proceeds
- Dormant distributions and proceeds from investment assets
- Other dormant security distributions
Customers Can Still Reclaim Cash
Account holders will always be able to reclaim the same amount they would have had if their assets were never transferred. Companies would continue to participate on a voluntary basis.
There are more than 30 participating firms including:
- HSBC Bank plc, Lloyds Banking Group
- Nationwide Building Society
- Royal Bank of Scotland
- The Co-operative Bank plc.
What Is A Dormant Account?
The definition of a dormant bank or building society account is in the Dormant Bank and Building Society Accounts Act 2008:
An account is ‘dormant’ at a particular time if the account has been open throughout the period of 15 years ending at that time, but during that period no transactions have been carried out in relation to the account by or on the instructions of the holder of the account.
Reclaim Fund Ltd
Participating firms also agree with the Reclaim Fund Ltd, which administers the scheme, to undertake tracing exercises before transferring dormant accounts.
Under the scheme, funds are held by Reclaim Fund Ltd (RFL), which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and holds sufficient money to cover any reclaims while distributing the surplus to The National Lottery Community Fund for social or environmental initiatives across the UK.
