By Esmée Hardwick-Slack
According to the National Savings and Investments (NS&I) an estimated seven million people have untouched cash in dormant accounts, with 52% of those asked claiming to have lost track of their funds due to a forgotten password. The government-backed savings provider has also said that unclaimed premium bond prizes alone totalled £2.8bn.
On top of this, research conducted by the UK’s Pensions Policy Institute (PPI) has found that up to £20bn of retirement cash could be sitting in accounts unclaimed by up to 1.6m members.
“These findings highlight the jaw-dropping scale of the lost pensions problem” said Dr Yvonne Braun, director of long-term savings and protection at the Association of British Insurers.
“Unclaimed pensions can make a real difference to millions of savers who lost touch with their pension providers.”
The lost pensions problem has become more pressing since millions of workers have begun saving into a workplace pensions, after being automatically enrolled by their employers.
Chief executive at NS&I has said: “if you think you may have had savings or investments that you have lost touch with, doing a little digging and attempting to reunite yourself with lost funds may provide a chance to rekindle your savings habit.”
Free services are available if you need help to trace your money, although your first point of call should be your bank or building society. Money held by banks, building societies, or NS&I can be located through the My Lost Account system.
Pension savings can be uncovered through the government backed Pension Tracing Service.
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