£27.5m lies in "forgotten" bank accounts

Wednesday, 10 March 2010 11:22

By myfinances.co.uk staff

Some £27.5 million lies unclaimed in dormant bank accounts held with HSBC, the lender has announced.

Since September 2008, the bank has been working to reunite "forgotten" funds with account holders and so far, some £10.4 million has been returned to around 7,400 customers from deposits that had lain untouched for more than 15 years.

It said the highest concentration of the remaining dormant accounts on its books is in central London, where £7 million remains unclaimed.

Scotland has the fewest forgotten balances at a combined £200,000.

HSBC retail products executive manager Brendan Cook said: "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."

In cases where customers cannot be traced, the funds held on deposit will be transferred to the government's dormant accounts scheme, which has yet to officially launch.

Once up and running, this scheme will use money from forgotten accounts to support community projects, although account holders will have the right to be repaid through a reclaim fund overseen by the Financial Services Authority.

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