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Association supports government plan regarding unclaimed assets

April 25, 2007 by admin  
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The government in the UK has recently proposed an initiative in relation to unclaimed banking assets, and the British Banker’s Association has confirmed that the banking industry is backing this initiative.

The banking industry has been finalising technical details relating to the initiative with the cooperation of the government, and consumers are being given priority so that they can reclaim their money whenever they want to.
The Chief Executive of the BBA, Angela Knight, stated: ‘The banking industry has been in a detailed discussion with the Government since the 2005 Pre-Budget Report on the introduction of an unclaimed assets scheme for bank and building society accounts with the aim of getting the technical detail right on their initiative.

All along our priority has been the protection of the right of customers to reclaim their monies at any time.  A key element of the approach proposed within the consultation paper therefore is that even after the transfer of their ‘unclaimed assets’ individuals will retain the right to reclaim their monies via their bank or building society as at present.’

According to the BBA banks will continue to effectively deal with customers to minimize on the number of claims that have to be moved over to a central account and to minimise on inconvenience. The regulations mean that any unclaimed assets will them be moved into a central fund after fifteen years if no claim has been made.

At present there are hundreds of millions of pounds in UK banks that remains unclaimed, and it is thought that every year tens of millions more may be left unclaimed. Authorities also plan a consultation later this year to decide upon distribution of unclaimed funds.

Tom Smith
25th April 2007

Tags: inconvenience, United Kingdom, government plan, Angela Knight, approach, priority, initiative, building society accounts

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