Billions of pounds of forgotten cash - find out if you're sitting on a fortune
Most of us are feeling the pinch at the moment but many could be doing so needlessly. There is around £1.7billion sitting in savings accounts, pensions and investments that has been forgotten about, and another £1.7billion in lost Child Trust Funds and £81million in unclaimed premium bond prizes – and some of that cash could have your name on it.
Sarah Coles, head of personal finance at Hargreaves Lansdown, says: “We estimate there’s around £800million in lost pensions and insurance policies, and it’s easy to see why. Pension rules mean most people now automatically get put into the workplace scheme when they start a new job. It means that every time you change jobs, you get a new pension, so you can end up trailing an awful lot of them after you. If you forget to update details with every one of them when you move house, it’s easy to lose track.”
If you think you’ve lost a pension, it’s worth taking time to track it down. Check to see if you have paperwork. If not, talk to any old colleagues to see if they kept any. You can also contact the Government’s pension tracing service by searching “find pension contact details” at gov.uk. It’s also worth thinking about bringing old pensions together. This won’t just cut down on administration, it also helps you make the best possible decisions when you retire. You might, for example, choose to take a small pension as a cash lump sum and spend it. However, if you bring it together into a larger pot, you’re more likely to leave it where it is and make the most of it.
If you're lucky you might come across some extra cash (Getty Images)Sarah adds: “When you bring together pensions, you do need to consider exit fees or charges, so you don’t pay a fortune to move. Check you’re not giving up any guaranteed benefits too. This is particularly the case with defined benefit pensions (including final salary pensions). These are incredibly valuable, so in most cases are not worth moving.”
There’s also a vast sum of cash sitting in forgotten savings accounts. Since 2011, £892million of it has been classed as dormant because it hasn’t been touched in 15 years and the account holder hasn’t responded to attempts to get in touch. This money is given to good causes through what’s known as the “dormant assets” scheme, but if you think some of it might be yours, don’t panic. You can still get in touch with the bank and reclaim it – because it’s all still yours. If you know the business you held money with, the best thing to do is contact them and ask. You’ll need to prove your identity, but they should be able to track down your account. If you’re not sure where your accounts are, things are more straightforward than they used to be – banks, building societies and National Savings & Investments have launched a free tool which lets you search for accounts with all of them: My Lost Account ( mylostaccount.org.uk/about ).
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It will take up to 90 days for all the institutions to get back to you and let you know if you have an account with them. Then you need to contact any relevant ones direct. Once you’ve found any lost cash, some spring-cleaning can help you keep an eye on it. Sarah says: “You can close old accounts paying next to nothing in interest and move your money somewhere it will work harder for you. Don’t forget the Financial Services Compensation Scheme limit, which protects the first £85,000 held with each institution if something was to go wrong. Bringing your savings together shouldn’t mean busting this limit. Even if you have an awful lot of savings, you can still keep it all in one place with NS&I (which is 100% protected by the Treasury), or a cash savings platform, so you can take advantage of the best rates from a number of different banks, and still see them all in one place.”
CHILD TRUST FUNDS
There’s £1.7billion sitting unclaimed in matured Child Trust Funds (CTFs), belonging to almost a million young people aged 18-20. Everyone in this age group has one, and more than two in five of them haven’t been claimed. These accounts began maturing in September 2020. Those on lower incomes and those whose parents weren’t financially engaged when they received their voucher, so never knew where it was invested, are the most likely to be in the dark. They’re also more likely to need it most. There were 6.3 million accounts opened in total – 1.8 million of them opened by HM Revenue & Customs after parents didn’t make a choice. It means the million young people with neglected accounts are likely just to be the first of many.
If you have a child who was born between September 1, 2002 and January 1, 2011, they’ll have qualified for a CTF. If you’ve lost track of it, you can track it through the Government website gov.uk as long as you have parental responsibility for the child. You’ll need to sign into the Government Gateway, or sign up for an account. Then you can fill out a form with your child’s details, and they will inform you of the provider holding your child’s CTF. People over 16 can track down CTFs via gov.uk.
PREMIUM BONDS
And don’t forget to double-check your premium bonds – you could be missing out on potentially hundreds of thousands of pounds in prizes. There are prizes worth £81million languishing unclaimed for the last 18 months or so. That’s more than two million prizes, according to latest figures obtained by MoneySavingExpert from NS&I. Of the 2,324,683 prizes unclaimed, six are worth £100,000, nine are valued at £50,000, and there are 14 prizes worth £25,000.
Prizes remain unclaimed across the country with the largest number in the South East at 301,026, followed by London at 293,105, East Anglia at 176,810 and the North West at 164,714. Winners should have been notified by text, email or post, so some of these unclaimed prizes may belong to bondholders who have moved or changed contact details without updating NS&I. Some prizes may be lost in the post for people receiving letters by post.
Helen Knapman, news and investigations editor at MoneySaving Expert.com, said: “Moved home over the years and not let NS&I know? Bought premium bonds prior to 2011 and not linked them to your bank? These are some of the reasons why you should check if you’re missing any prizes.” You can find lost premium bond prizes via the checker at nsandi.com/prize-checker, use NS&I’s prize checker app, or write to: NS&I, Sunderland, SR43 2SB.
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