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NS&I's unclaimed assets and tracing service
NS&I, the British Bankers Association (BBA) and the Building Societies Association (BSA) launched mylostaccount.org.uk on 30 January 2008, a single internet based portal which draws together the free-to-use tracing services of the three organisations.
NS&I's unclaimed assets
Accumulated over 148 years of its history, NS&I has approximately £452m of unclaimed assets in dormant accounts (where there has been no customer initiated activity for at least 15 years).
As at 31 January 2009, and since it was set up in 2001, NS&I's tracing service has (including traces initiated from www.mylostaccount.org.uk launched on 30 January 2008):
- Initiated 600,000 traces
- Accomplished over 115,000 successful product traces, reuniting customers with just over £155 million
- Achieved an average trace value of £1,300
- The oldest trace is that of an Ordinary Account opened in 1897
- The highest value traced was a total of £278,835.53 (consisting of £258,835.53 in Savings Certificates and £20,000 in Premium Bonds) that was traced in February 2004
- The second highest value traced was £208,406.70 (consisting entirely of Savings Certificates) in November 2004. Both of these were UK customers
- NS&I has traced money for people now living overseas, including Australia, Thailand, Canada and Italy
- The highest value reunited with a customer overseas was £34,666.97 (consisting of £28,889.97 in Deposit Bonds and £5,777 in Yearly Plan - products no longer available). This was traced in December 2002 and the customer lived in Thailand
- The second highest value reunited with a customer overseas was £1,788.11 (consisting of £1,051.62 in INVAC and £736.49 in ORDAC). This was traced in July 2002 and the customer lived in Australia
- NS&I receives 2,000 change of address notifications each and every day for our Premium Bond product – almost 0.5 million per year
- NS&I still receives and repays 6000 old Post Office Savings Bank pass books each year (all issued pre 1970)
NS&I research*
- Over a fifth (21%) of the population have over four different financial providers – therefore keeping track of all of their savings can prove to be a problem
- The most common reason for people losing touch with their savings is because they find it difficult to remember all the accounts that they have opened over the years
- More than a third (37%) of those who have lost track of funds have failed to let their providers know they had changed address
- Many people also forget childhood savings accounts, 28% think they have lost touch with money they were given as a child
- Those people who have not tried to reunite themselves with any savings or investments say the main reasons are:
- The amount is too small to be worth the effort - 35%
- They do not know how to trace the investment - 17%
- They have never thought about it - 18%
*Research carried out by TNS Phonebus among 2,002 GB adults aged 16+ between 5 and 14 December 2008.
