Since September 2008, HSBC has been actively reuniting customers with money in lost or forgotten accounts.
Around 7,400 HSBC customers have so far been reunited with more than £10.4 million (average balance of £1,400) from accounts they either had no knowledge of, or from accounts which had been left untouched for over 15 years.
There is still a further £27.5 million to be claimed and HSBC has undertaken a range of initiatives to try to reunite customers with their money. The bank has written to customers, held a national advertising/publicity campaign, set up an unclaimed balances website as well as employing tracing agents to try to re-establish contact with customers.
The region with the most funds still left in dormant accounts is
Brendan Cook, HSBC retail products executive manager, said: "We are delighted that we have been able to reunite so many of our customers with their money. Whether the account has a balance of £5 or £5,000, it is important that we continue to try to trace these customers so that we can make them aware of what is rightfully theirs.”
Account balances which cannot be traced are expected to be transferred over to the government's dormant accounts scheme. No date has been set for the launch of this scheme, but three months prior to the start date HSBC will send a final letter to dormant account customers to alert them to the impending deadline.
Although the dormant account funds are to be transferred to the government, the money will always remain the property of the customer and can be reclaimed at any stage.
For help in tracing dormant bank accounts, the British Bankers' Association is offering a free service to every bank in the
Date: 10th, March, 2010
ADVICE TO READERS
While this website is checked for accuracy, we are not liable for any incorrect information included. We recommend that you make enquiries based on your own circumstances and, if necessary, take professional advice before entering into transactions.
Enter your postcode here to find out how much your property is worth, based on Land Registry data.
RSS Feed
Delicious
Digg
reddit
Facebook
StumbleUpon