Advisers: can you help reunite people with lost cash?

In the following days, Gretel, which was featured on the programme, matched more than £5mn with its rightful owners, with the website experiencing one of the biggest surges in demand since launch.

As we highlighted on ITV, the problem of lost accounts is ballooning.

Research we have carried out estimates there is now £89bn in lost accounts in the UK – spanning bank accounts, pensions, savings, investments, child trust funds and life insurance.

This is not just a minor oversight but represents a substantial pool of financial resources that could significantly change individuals' financial health and economic wellbeing.

Why is the financial industry not doing more to help give this money back to customers?

This vast amount of unclaimed money is not just a statistic; it represents countless opportunities for individuals to improve their financial situation.

These billions can make a real difference to people, particularly now during a cost-of-living crisis.

So the big question is surely, why is the financial industry not doing more to help give this money back to customers and how can financial advisers help?

With awareness and action toward reclaiming these assets so low, the need for education on dormant accounts is critical.

Many individuals are either unaware of their existence or face challenges in tracking them down due to lost paperwork, forgotten details, or lack of knowledge about the process involved in reclaiming these assets.

Complexity

Efforts by individuals themselves to reconnect with their lost or dormant accounts remain insufficient.

A strikingly low percentage of people have attempted to track down their lost accounts, with only 6 per cent looking for lost bank accounts—a significant drop from 13 per cent in 2022.

This decrease underscores a growing issue: the complexity and difficulty of reclaiming assets without proper guidance and resources.

Financial advisers are in a unique position to address these challenges.

Using their expertise, they can play a pivotal role in educating clients about the importance of keeping track of all financial assets and what to do with any lost and forgotten financial assets they find.

Leveraging their trusted relationship with clients, advisers can help raise awareness of Britain’s lost billions, provide support by directing them to helpful free resources such as Gretel or Gov.uk, and offer guidance and advice to any who discover lost savings and investments.

We are now nine months on from the implementation of consumer duty, which mandates financial companies to prioritise the interests of their consumers by ensuring transparency and providing robust support.

Advisers can help raise awareness of Britain’s lost billions

With just three months remaining before legacy products and accounts come into scope as part of this regulation, we see this as an opportunity to help reunite the 28mn accounts in the UK classed as lost or dormant with their rightful owners.

The biggest barrier is the lack of information and recall among individuals about their dormant accounts.

Only a third of people can remember the name the account was registered in, only a quarter can recall the address, and similar proportions remember the provider name and account type.

Fewer than one in five remember the account number or value, and one in ten say they do not recall any details.

Additionally, only 15 per cent believe they could find any associated paperwork, and 13 per cent remember little because someone else set up the account on their behalf.

Without the industry stepping in to help these customers, it is clear that it could be years before this money is returned to individuals, with some likely never to be reunited.

Best interests of clients

The consumer duty has put the emphasis onto financial firms to act in the best interest of their clients.

Now is the time that as an industry we can all step up and help our clients address the dormant asset problem in the UK. If one TV programme can reunite millions of pounds then think what we can collectively do.

This billion-pound problem not only affects individual consumers but also has broader implications for the financial industry and society at large.

We can make a significant difference in improving financial wellbeing

The positive impact of reclaiming dormant assets extends beyond individual financial relief; it contributes to the broader economy by ensuring these funds are put to productive use.

Therefore, the role of financial advisers is more critical than ever.

By focusing on client education, offering personalised advice, and supporting the recovery of dormant assets, we can make a significant difference in improving financial wellbeing and addressing broader economic challenges.

We are committed to supporting and improving financial outcomes for consumers by facilitating a seamless connection between customers and financial companies, ensuring that individuals can easily reclaim what is rightfully theirs.

Duncan Stevens is chief executive of Gretel