UK government to use £330m from dormant accounts to combat homelessness

Millions of pounds from dormant bank and building society accounts have been earmarked to tackle homelessness and aid vulnerable young people in England. This action has been taken by the government to create a “fairer society.”

Tracey Crouch, minister for sport and civil society says that the money will help to make a real difference.

“This is part of the government’s commitment to building a fairer society and tackling the social injustices that hold people back from achieving their full potential.”

The unclaimed money will be taken from personal financial accounts that have been inactive and untouched for at least 15 years. Financial institutions will have unsuccessfully attempted to trace the owners of these accounts and contact will have been lost.

Using financial assets from UK dormant accounts to fund charitable causes was first demonstrated in 2008. The Dormant Bank and Building Society Accounts Act was passed in 2008 under Gordon Brown. This law authorised, ‘the distribution of assets from cash accounts that have been inactive for fifteen years.’

Over the next four years, £135m has been allocated for homeless housing initiatives and on social enterprises and local charities. An additional £90m is promised to help disadvantaged young people into employment. Whilst a further £55m will be spent on tackling problem debt and aiding ‘financial inclusion initiatives.’

The remaining £50m has been designated to the developed administrations of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Good News

If you think that you may have lost contact with one of your financial accounts, you don’t have to worry. Although this money may be put towards homeless initiatives, you are still able to reclaim any money which is rightfully yours.

The Reclaim Fund are the organisation that is used to recover money from dormant UK accounts. Their chief executive, Adrian Smith said;

“We will continue to work hard in ensuring that consumers can at any time reclaim money owed from their dormant accounts while working with the government to deliver further funds for good causes.”

The Reclaim Fund are required to retain a chunk of their money in order to repay any account holders who come forward to claim their cash.

If you are interested in discovering whether you are owed any unclaimed money from a dormant account, we can help. By registering for FREE at monimine.com, we can help you determine whether you are the owner of any outstanding assets.

Josh Cousens – Monimine.