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How could I have
lost money that I don't know about?
Do you take a percentage of
any funds you find?
Where do you look for my
lost funds?
Are there any institutions
that you don’t search?
Can I register other members
of my family?
Can I search for a deceased
relative’s assets?
I’m searching for an elderly
relative’s assets, how far back will you go to trace their assets?
Can I trace assets that were
set up for me by my relatives?
What is the process?
Why do I have to sign a
letter of authority and what does it enable you to do?
Who gives me my lost money
back?
How long can it take to
find my lost money?
How will you tell me about
any successful finds?
Why should I make sure I
keep my details updated?
How safe is my information?
Have there been any changes
to the FundsReunited service?
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How could I have lost money that I don't know
about?
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There is an estimated £20 billion in
unclaimed assets sitting dormant in the UK. Some of it could be yours. Money
gets ‘lost’ in a whole range of different ways. You could have lost money if:
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You changed address without informing all relevant financial institutions
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You moved jobs and forgot about your old company pension scheme
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A relative died without all assets being identified during the probate process
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Relatives set up savings plans when you were a child that are forgotten or
details lost
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You cancelled a policy you thought was worthless
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You cancelled your endowment policy
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You have unclaimed dividends on old equity investments
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You lost documentation through disorganised personal filing
Be careful when assuming that you know where all your
assets are and that you haven’t lost any, as with up to £20 billion unclaimed
there’s a very good chance you may! After all, it’s only through the reasons
mentioned above that it becomes lost in the first place. If everybody took
steps to look for assets they may have lost contact with the £20bn worth of
lost assets wouldn’t exist!
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Do you take a percentage of any funds you
find?
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No we don’t. The only fee you pay us is the one you pay on the day you sign up
to our service, therefore any money found is all yours.
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We search the institutions that you select
when you sign up to the service.
Interestingly unlike other companies that offer similar services we check all
the assets an institution holds not just the ones they deem to be dormant. This
is useful as you may have lost an asset that the institution hasn’t realised is
dormant, that other companies would be unable to find.
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Are there any institutions that you
don’t search?
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There are some small institutions that only deal with specialised products so
there isn’t much point in conducting searches with them. The institutions
available in our life policy search cover the majority of all the life policies
sold within the UK so you can be assured of a comprehensive search.
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Can I register other members of my
family? |
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You can only search for another living person if you have a signed Power of
Attorney from them.
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Can I search for a deceased relative’s
assets? |
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Provided you are the executor of their estate you have the right to search for
any assets relatives or friends may have forgotten to tell you about before
they died. Our service is often used in this way by solicitors investigating
probate cases. If an asset is found you may need to produce copies of the death
certificate, will or grant of probate.
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I’m searching for an elderly relative’s
assets, how far back will you go to trace their assets? |
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It’s pretty hard to pinpoint so precisely as different institutions will have
different timeframes. In theory if there is an asset with a value it remains
with the institution in your name until claimed. The safe estimate is that we
can find policies dating back to 1965 although it may possible to go back
further especially if you have an idea of where the asset was held.
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| Can I trace assets that were set up for
me by my relatives?
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Yes you can. This is a very common reason for assets getting lost. When well
meaning relatives such as grandparents or parents set up accounts for children
but forget to pass the information on to them the beneficiary has no idea that
these accounts even exist (see the success story for Jonathon Rowley who found
exactly this). When you do a search for yourself you may be very surprised at
what turns up!
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What is the process? |
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Details of the process for searching for lost assets can be found here:
www.fundsreunited.com/howtofindyourmoney
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Why do I have to sign a letter of authority
and what does it enable you to do? |
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The letter of authority only gives us permission to search the institution’s
reams of data for policies in your name, and chase these up on your behalf to
find out if there is lost money with those institutions.
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Who gives me my lost money back? |
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FundsReunited.com has no access to any funds found nor will we handle them at
anytime. Any monies will be paid direct to the entitled person by the holding
institution.
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How long can it take to find my lost
money? |
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It can take anything from 4 to 26 weeks to complete your search. Due to the
fact that different institutions handle our queries differently you will
probably find that you have had some responses within 2 weeks whereas others
can take 8 weeks or more.
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| How will you tell me about any
successful finds? |
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As responses are received from the financial institutions we will update your
Search Results Area. Therefore you can log on to the website whenever you would
like to view an update, in addition we will email you when responses are
received from institutions. To view your search results you will have to log in
using your username and password, this is to ensure the security of your
results area. We will also write to you in the event that a positive match is
made just to guarantee that the news reaches you in one way or another.
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Why should I make sure I keep my details
updated?
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Your registration and personal details are the key to us communicating your
search results.
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How safe is my information? |
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FundsReunited Limited is registered under the Data Protection Act (1988) (DPA)
as a data user and computer bureau. This means that we will keep the
information you give us confidential and we will only disclose it to financial
institutions for the purpose of reuniting you with potential unclaimed assets
and updating your address. Financial institutions are required to comply with
the DPA. Any information from a financial institution produced in response to a
search enquiry will be kept confidential by FundsReunited.com and only used as
described in these Terms and Conditions.
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Have there been any changes to the
FundsReunited service? |
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Yes, we have recently launched a new
product called the Search Tool Kit. This provides guidance on how to initiate
searches for dormant accounts, provides key contact points and explains the
processes and what you can expect in response to your enquiry.
The Search Tool Kit contains:
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A tool which will help you track down your old Bank or Building Society.
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A guide to help you track down lost Bank and Building Society accounts and
Premium Bonds.
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A list of Government bonds/National Savings products to help you identify what
product you may have lost (e.g. premium bonds) or wish to search for.
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Notes on occupational pension schemes, how you can trace the ‘Trustees’ of
occupational pension schemes from companies that may or may no longer be
trading, useful pension data in relation to state retirement pensions and state
earnings related pension schemes (SERPS).
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An explanation of what ‘Gilts’ are, early examples of why people bought Gilts
(e.g. WAR BONDS) and where you may be able to track down or redeem an old
certificate.
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The Chancery Court has traditionally accepted sums of money, particularly for
missing heirs of deceased persons. We will explain ‘Money in Chancery’ in more
detail; direct you to the appropriate office, whether you are in England and
Wales or Scotland, specifying possible costs and advising you on the
information you should attempt to provide.
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The estates in England and Wales of people who die in testate and without known
kin become what is known as "Bona Vacantia" and are collected by a number of
regional authorities in England and Wales with separate authorities for
Scotland, Northern Ireland and The Republic of Ireland. All contact details are
provided with the information that is required for any claim.
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Links to other organisations that help with other types of unclaimed assets and
how to guides
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