It seems that many people in the UK may have lost track of money that they have in various banks accounts, as National Savings & Investments has announced that around ?435 million has been left lying dormant in bank and savings accounts and has not yet been claimed. An advertising campaign is now being rolled out by NS&I, which is a treasury backed savings company, in a bid to try and help consumers to retrace money that could be theirs and may simply have been forgotten about or lost track of.

Accounts that have not been touched for fifteen years or more are being classed as dormant, and it is these accounts that NS&I is hoping to reunite with their owners. However, in some cases the accounts date back over 150 years to the 1860s, according to the figures. The reports also how that one account, which has been dormant since 1990, has over ?180,000 in it. In other cases the accounts have simply been left with several pounds or fairly modest amounts in.

The government has also formed a strategy with regards for any monies that are not claimed by owners. A committee has been set up, and monies from dormant accounts that are not claimed will be used towards funding youth and community projects throughout the UK. This scheme does not involve NS&I, which is simply dealing with the advertising campaign to help consumers to reclaim their money.

Although the government plans to use the money from unclaimed dormant accounts for community and youth projects, officials state that the rightful owner of the money can still make a claim at any time. Officials also state that some accounts may now be quite substantial because of interest that may have been earned over a matter of years or even decades ? in fact, in some cases banks are having to calculate the interest manually because the accounts are so old.

The British Bankers' Association is also involved in helping consumers retrace their lost cash, and anyone wishing to make a claim is advised to contact the BBA via its website. It seems that many people may have lost track of these accounts simply because their moved home and failed to give the bank their forwarding address.