Wake-up call for dormant accounts

Mrs McGuire said there was £9,440 in dormant accounts in Stirling

Bank users have been urged to check if they have cash lying in forgotten bank accounts.

The call is being made by Stirling MP Anne McGuire who said there was £9,440 lying unclaimed in accounts set up by people in her constituency alone.

A second reading of the dormant account bill is due to be heard in the House of Commons.

The bill is expected to be passed by the end of this year and will see cash from such accounts go to good causes.

A dormant account is when the bank or building society loses touch with the account holder for a period of three years.

Mrs McGuire said: "Times are tough and it is sometimes difficult to imagine that we could forget about having money tucked away somewhere, but the Dormant Account Campaign has proven that this does actually happen.

"The latest figures from HBOS show that it has reunited more than £18m of dormant funds leaving £29.2m still to be claimed.

"In this constituency alone, they have identified 69 dormant accounts. The total balance of these accounts is £9440; which works out at an average of £137 of unclaimed funds per account."

People can check if they have unclaimed dormant funds via the British Bankers' Association at www.mylostaccount.org.uk.