£5 billion missing from bereaved families’ accounts
Millions of pounds in inheritance is going unclaimed every year because solicitors are not taking advantage of modern technology to uncover accounts, policies and shares due to bereaved families.
Figures from dormant asset holders, the Reclaim Fund, show that £1.3 billion is currently being held, a sum that continues to increase annually.
There is also an estimated £3.65 billion held within NS&I which is yet to be reunited with its rightful owners, much of which is due to beneficiaries of estates.
The total unclaimed in Britain, therefore, currently stands at a staggering £4.95 billion.
Daniel Cane, chief executive of Inheritance Data, a leading financial asset search company, said:
“The amount of money which is unclaimed is simply mind-boggling, and potentially life-changing for some of those bereaved families and beneficiaries to whom it is owed.
At the moment, the unclaimed assets figure in Britain stands, incredibly, at nearly five billion pounds.
Why is that? Some solicitors are simply not using technology that is helping to transform the way assets are located, or conducting the necessary searches to uncover all financial accounts, policies and share certificates due to bereaved families.”
NS&I’s breakdown of unclaimed assets shows that £582 million lies in dormant accounts; £2.3 billion in share certificates; £17 million in Income Bonds; £26m in unclaimed Premium Bonds; and £683 million lies in residual accounts.
Cane says the missing billions owed to beneficiaries could have been significantly reduced if solicitors used Inheritance Data’s proprietary financial asset searching technology.
The unique market-leading platform, founded in 2015, was designed to explore the records of more than 200 UK financial institutions to establish a deceased individual’s full financial history and uncover all assets owed to that estate.
In 54% of searches currently conducted by Inheritance Data, at least one unknown policy is discovered of which the executor was unaware.
Cane added:
“Inheritance Data helps executors comply with their obligations by conducting a full and comprehensive financial search for a minimal fee.
That means that bereaved families and beneficiaries receive all of the funds that are owed to them, and faster. What we offer executors is complete peace of mind, and an insurance backed warranty, that they have properly done their job.
There is no excuse that so many people are missing out on their rightful financial assets and we would urge solicitors to get in touch to solve this massive multi-billion pound problem together.”
This article was submitted to be published by Inheritance Data as part of their advertising agreement with Today’s Wills and Probate. The views expressed in this article are those of the submitter and not those of Today’s Wills and Probate.