Could you have a long-lost bank account?

Posted in 'Personal Finance' by Barry Stamp

30 November 2011

It‘s estimated that there is around £500m held in ‘dormant’ accounts, which unless claimed, will eventually be transferred over to the government dormant accounts scheme, and redistributed for 'good causes' - i.e. not you.

The British Bankers Association (BBA), the Building Societies Association and National Savings & Investments (NS&I) operate mylostaccount, which allows you to run a search for any dormant accounts you might have. The service has been operational for some time, but the BBA is hopeful that following a succession of marketing pushes by various banks, they will see more people use the service.

Locating a long-lost forgotten bank account might bring with it an unexpected windfall, but forgetting to update your address with a lender when you move could have much more unpleasant consequences.

Successive CIFAS reports on fraud trends have highlighted that ‘previous occupier fraud’ remains a big concern. This involves opportunist fraudsters taking control of the account of a previous tenant when moving into a property. If not spotted, this soon turns into full blown identity fraud.

If you are at all worried that you might be vulnerable to identity fraudsters, you can check your likely risk by using our Free Identity Theft Check service. Based on factors such as your lifestyle, where you go out and holiday and which websites you use, you can see if you are at risk from any particular type of fraud.

Even in the absence of opportunistic criminals, having active (open) accounts at a previous address dramatically increases the risk of falling victim to identity theft. Checking your credit report online will not only let you spot any early warning signs of attempted identity theft, but will also highlight any accounts active at your previous addresses.

Check your credit report now

It's free to try for 30 days, and then costs just £8.99 per month - a bargain compared to our nearest competitor, as we provide more than twice the information than any other credit report. You can cancel at any time.