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Halifax to reunite funds

Written by Gary Howes

Monday, 06 October 2008

Bank announces £29.9 million outstanding as Dormant Accounts Bill receives second reading.

Halifax (LON:HBOS) has today revealed it has reunited more than £18million of dormant funds leaving £29.2million still to be reunited.

The announcement was made to coincide with what has been described as an important day in bringing the Dormant Accounts Bill into legislation.

The Bill, which was introduced into Parliament in November 2007, will receive its second reading in The House of Commons today.

Tony Wilcox, head of savings at Halifax said, "many regions in the UK have a high percentage of forgotten funds still to claim. We would urge customers to take note that money is still lying dormant and to come forward to check if they have dormant funds.

"Some customers may not even realise their accounts are classed as dormant, they may even have left the money there untouched as a nest egg. Any account that has not had any activity on it in the last 15 years is considered dormant and the addition of interest does not count as activity," he continued.

The Dormant Accounts Bill

This Bill provides the legal and administrative framework for distributing assets from dormant cash accounts.

Dormant is defined in the Bill as a period of 15 years during which the customer has not initiated any activity on an account. Assets will be distributed by the Big Lottery Fund on a national basis.

In England, the assets will be spent with three aims in mind: providing opportunities for young people; improving financial capability and supporting institutions involved in social lending.

The relevant Devolved Authority will set the priorities for other countries.

Individuals will retain their rights to any accounts that have been distributed, if they make subsequent claims.