Royal London traces £14m in lost policies

twitter-iconfacebook-iconlinkedin-iconmail-iconprint-icon
Search supported by
Royal London traces £14m in lost policies

Royal London has reunited 36,000 customers with lost insurance policies they may have forgotten existed.

The mutual life, pensions and investment company said the "penny" policies, which included whole of life and endowment plans, were worth more than £14m.

The policies were historically sold by door-to-door agents, proving particularly popular in the 1960s and often used to cover funeral costs.

Royal London said it has spent more than £2m on the project since 2016, using external tracing partners Capita and LexisNexis to re-engage with customers who may have forgotten they or a family member held a policy.

The key brands with lost policies were Royal London and United Friendly, Refuge Assurance and Royal Liver, all of which are now owned by Royal London.

Jon Glen, group operations director for Royal London, said reuniting customers with money that is "rightfully theirs" remained a priority for the company.  

He said: "Many policyholders paid premiums for years but for various reasons have lost touch.

"Through our tracing programme we have successfully reunited thousands of customers with a total of £14m in lost policies and we encourage anyone who thinks they may have had a policy with Royal London, or any of the historical brands we have acquired over the years, to get in touch with us."

LV launched a similar campaign last year, claiming some customers could be owed up to £500 in money back from policies they or family members have had with them in the past. 

rachel.addison@ft.com