£44m sitting in unused accounts
February 19, 2007 by admin
Filed under News, News-Banking
A campaign is being launched to reunite customers with their unused bank and savings accounts.
Halifax is attempting to bring people back together with their accounts and the money that is idly sitting in them.
According to the bank, there are around 110,000 unused Halifax accounts in the UK, holding a combined £44 million.
The majority of people who have a forgotten account are said to have less than £100 sitting in them, but some have much more.
Halifax has employed a third party to search for those with accounts containing more than £1,000, but it is calling for other bankers to make themselves known.
“Our job is to reunite as many of our customers as is possible with their cash,” said Mike Regnier from Halifax and Bank of Scotland.
“We are using every means at our disposal to do so – mailings, advertising and the internet. We are also employing search agents where appropriate.”
The move comes as government plans to change the rules regarding unused accounts appear likely to come into force in the next few years.
It was announced in the 2005 pre-budget report that if an account is unused for 15 years it will be officially tagged as dormant.
This means the money can be given by the government to good causes, although the cash will always remain the account holder’s property and he or she can reclaim it at any time.
If you have an account which you have not used for some time it may be worth checking to make sure there is no money in it.
