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Media centre /
Press releaseBRITISH PUBLIC EACH LOSING TOUCH WITH £16,000 IN SAVINGS OR INVESTMENTS WHEN THEY MOVE HOUSE20 May 2003One in seven forgets to tell financial providers new address Photography available People in Britain who moved house in the last 12 months potentially lost touch with an average of £16,090 of their savings or investments because they failed to tell their financial providers their new address, according to research by National Savings and Investments (NS&I), the government-backed savings and investments provider. NS&I has found that one in seven people who moved house in the last 12 months had forgotten to tell all of their financial providers their new address and, worryingly, this figure is not improving - it has not changed in the 12 months since NS&I last carried out its research. The problem - faced by the entire financial services industry - is enormous; NS&I has found that, potentially £11.4 billion is neglected each year. When people move house they are literally walking away from their money and, without a correct address, financial providers cannot stay in touch with their customers. And, according to NS&I's research, the biggest culprits are those aged 45 to 54, with one in three (34%) of those people who had moved house in the last 12 months admitting they had forgotten to forward their new address to any organisation with which they have savings, investments or other financial products. This compares with just 3% of those aged 35 to 44 and none aged 55 to 64 - all the people surveyed in this age group had remembered to notify financial providers of their new address. But through its free tracing service, launched 18 months ago this month, NS&I has successfully reunited 9,300 people with lost or forgotten savings and investments worth more than £5.9 million. Currently, NS&I is holding on to £22.7 million in unclaimed Premium Bond prizes and customers can use the tracing service to find out if any prizes are due to them. It can also be used to trace lost or forgotten savings certificates, accounts or other bonds. There is no time limit on claiming any lost or forgotten funds because they remain the property of the customer and can be claimed back at any time. To use the tracing service, customers simply request a tracing service brochure from NS&I by calling 0845 964 5000 or download a form from the website at www.nsandi.com, complete it in as much detail as possible including previous addresses and other names and return it to NS&I. The customer will be contacted once the trace has been completed, usually within one month. Gill Cattanach, NS&I Commercial Director, said: "It is remarkable that people continue to forget to give their financial provider their new address when they move home and it is of great concern that, potentially, they could be losing touch with so much money. Fortunately, the NS&I tracing service can reunite our customers with some of this lost or forgotten money. "It is crucial that our customers who have moved and not given us their new address get in contact with us as soon as possible. I would urge customers to use our tracing service if they believe they may have an old account with us or perhaps have lost their old Premium Bonds, for example. This way we can reunite more people with money that is rightfully theirs." Tracing facts
Moving house The average price of a home in the UK is £153,301. The average cost of moving home (selling at £100,000 and buying at £150,000), including stamp duty, solicitors' fees, searches, land registry fees, estate agents' fees, valuation fee and removal costs amounts to approximately £4,680; costs which could be absorbed by the average lost or forgotten saving or investment of £16,090, and still leaving enough change to buy 142 top price tickets to the FA Cup Final. ENDS Notes to Editors1. Research carried out by TNS PhoneBus, 2 - 4 May 2003 among 1,009 adults aged 16+. Respondents were asked "Have you moved home in the last 12 months?", "When you moved home, did you forget to forward your new address to any organisation that you have savings, investments or another financial product with?" and "Have you ever forgotten to forward your new address to any organisation that you have savings, investments or another financial product with?" 2. Calculations: In the last year 11% have moved home and 14% of these forget to tell all their financial providers their new address. The amount of savings on deposit in the country totals £740 billion (ONS Financial Statistics). Therefore: 11% x 14% x £740 billion = £11.4 billion. Potentially, an average of £11.4 billion savings are becoming dormant every year across the financial services industry. The GB adult population is 46 million (16 and above: 2000 population predictions). Therefore: 11% x 46 million = 5.06 million adults move each year. 14% x 5.06 million = 708,400 people losing touch with their money every year. Therefore: £11.4 billion / 708,400 = £16,092. Potentially, an average of £16,092 is being left behind by those who forget to tell all of their financial providers their new address. 3. Sources: House-buying costs: Woolwich survey, 'The Cost of Moving', spring 2002. FA Cup Final ticket prices: the Football Association. 4. For more information and details of new tracing service photography in hi-res jpeg format, contact the NS&I Media and PR team. NS&I Media and PR Team
Media team The numbers below are for media use only. Customers wishing to contact NS&I can find details here.
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