Unclaimed assets should be used to fund infrastructure projects and other causes that promote the public good, according to investments and savings association Tisa.
Responding do a call for evidence from the recently-created Dormant Assets Commission, Tisa chief operating officer Carol Knight said if the rightful owner of unclaimed assets could not be found the money should be used to “fund infrastructure projects as well as supporting charitable causes”.
She said it was “critical” that “sufficient emphasis” was placed on finding the rightful owner of unclaimed assets.
“One of the causes is out of date or incomplete customer information, that is why our recommendation to the commission is to address this issue first.”
However, she said it was inevitable that in some cases the rightful owner would not be found.
“We therefore support the concept of a dormant assets scheme. However, we should not lose sight of the benefits of long-term saving on Britain’s economy over short-term consumption.
“We are therefore urging the commission to consider long-term infrastructure projects, as well as charities that deliver benefits over the long-term, when deciding who should be the recipients from the scheme.”
According to the Dormant Accounts Act, an account is considered “dormant” if it has been open throughout the period of 15 years ending at that time, and no transactions have been carried out during that period.
The government set up the Dormant Assets Commission in December 2015 to determine what should be done with these unclaimed dormant assets.
The commission is currently consulting the industry and other stakeholders, and is due to report back to government at the end of 2016.
Paul Clifford, a financial adviser with Clifford Osborne Limited, said spending unclaimed assets on charitable causes was a good idea, as long as every avenue had been checked and there were “categorically no owners”.
However, he said that there needed to be some sort of insurance in place in case someone with a claim to the asset “comes out of the woodwork”.
He was sceptical of Tisa’s suggestion of spending unclaimed assets on infrastructure. “That’s what we pay taxes for. I’d rather see it spent on disadvantaged communities, young people, and old people’s services,” he said.
james.fernyhough@ft.com
