There is £27.5m left lying unclaimed in HSBC accounts that
customers have either lost or forgotten about, according to the
bank.
HSBC has been reuniting customers with the so called 'dormant'
accounts since September 2008, and have so far given £10.4m to
customers who held accounts they either had no knowledge of, or had
left untouched for over 15 years.
The average dormant account holds £1,400 and the bank has
undertaken a range of initiatives to try to reunite customers with
their money including writing letters, national publicity campaigns
and the employing of tracing agents to try to re-establish contact
with customers.
However, thousands of people are still missing out on money that
is rightfully theirs and the funds are at risk of being transferred
to the government in the near future.
The region with the most funds still left in dormant accounts is
Central London with around £7m still outstanding. The next highest
is in Greater London with over £4m.
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 the government 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."
Mr. Cook said that although the funds in dormant accounts
may soon be passed on to the government, people will still be able
to reclaim their money.
"The money will always remain the property of the customer and
can be reclaimed at any stage," he added.