Open call for evidence

Dormant Assets Scheme- list of questions

Published 24 September 2024

Use this page to read the questions contained in the call for evidence.

To submit your response to the call for evidence, you must complete the online response form.

Are you happy for your response to be quoted on an anonymous basis? (select only one)

• Yes - I am happy for my response to be quoted on an anonymous basis
• No - I do not want my response to be quoted

Are you responding as an individual or on behalf of an organisation? (select only one)

• Individual
• Organisation
• Joint response on behalf of multiple organisations

What is the name of your organisation? (if representing multiple organisations, please list them here)

Does your organisation manage or hold dormant assets that could be transferred into the Dormant Assets Scheme (according to the Dormant Assets Act 2008 and 2022)? (select only one)

• Yes
• No
• Don’t know

In which eligible sector(s) does your organisation operate? (select all that apply)

• Bank and building societies
• Insurance and pensions
• Investment and wealth management
• Securities (i.e. traded public companies)
• Not applicable

Has your organisation ever transferred dormant assets into the Dormant Assets Scheme? (select only one)

• Yes
• No
• Don’t know

Which scheme has your organisation transferred dormant assets into? (select only one)

• Main scheme
• Alternative scheme
• Don’t know

Has your organisation transferred dormant assets funding to either the main or alternative scheme since February 2022? (select only one)

• Yes
• No
• Don’t know

Reuniting assets with their owners

Dormant assets remain the property of their owners and can be reclaimed at any time. Businesses’ first priority is to reunite owners with their assets. This includes trying to locate people who might have moved house – for example, via Royal Mail, email, telephone, a tracing service, or a credit reference agency. It can also happen when customers change their name without updating their details or buy a new financial product and forget about the ones they already own. If an asset has been classified as dormant and reunification efforts have been unsuccessful, the business can transfer the money to Reclaim Fund Ltd (RFL).

In order to trace, verify and reunite assets with their owners, does your organisation follow any industry guidance, or engage with any of the following organisations? (select all that apply)

• UK Finance
• Building Societies Association
• Association of British Insurers (ABI)
• Investment Association (IA)
• Other (please specify)
• No

Please describe the steps your organisation has taken to reunite owners with their assets, before transferring these into the Dormant Assets Scheme?

Please describe the obstacles, if any, your organisation has experienced in successfully reuniting assets with their owners.

To what extent do you feel the steps your organisation takes have been effective at reuniting assets with owners, where possible, ahead of transferring into the Dormant Assets Scheme? (select only one)

• Very effective
• Effective
• Neither effective nor ineffective
• Ineffective
• Very ineffective
• Don’t know

Have you personally been reunited with a lost asset from a financial services organisation? (select only one)

• Yes
• No
• Don’t know

What is the name of the financial services organisation?

To what extent do you feel the steps taken to reunite you with your assets have been effective? (select only one)

• Very effective
• Effective
• Neither effective nor ineffective
• Ineffective
• Very ineffective
• Don’t know

Please explain your answer, including what changes, if any, could be made to improve the process?

Operation of the Dormant Assets Scheme and Alternative Scheme

Once an asset has been classified as dormant and cannot be reunited with its owner, it can be transferred to the scheme’s administrator, RFL. RFL manages the funds, retaining a percentage in order to meet any reclaims, and transfers the surplus to The National Lottery Community Fund (TNLCF) to be distributed to social and environmental causes across the UK. 

Alongside the main Dormant Assets Scheme, there is an Alternative Scheme that enables smaller banks or building societies, with balance sheets of less than £7 billion, to transfer dormant assets funds to RFL and nominate a local or relevant charity to receive the amount not reserved for reclaims.

How would you describe the process of transferring the dormant assets held by your organisation to RFL? (select only one)

• Very easy
• Easy
• Neither easy nor difficult
• Difficult
• Very difficult
• Don’t know

Has a customer of your organisation ever reclaimed an asset that had been transferred to RFL? (select only one)

• Yes
• No
• Don’t know

Please describe the process your organisation put in place to manage any customer reclaims and to be reimbursed by RFL?

How would you describe your experience of working with RFL to process customer reclaims? (select only one)

• Very easy
• Easy
• Neither easy nor difficult
• Difficult
• Very difficult
• Don’t know

Please explain your answer, including what changes, if any, could be made to improve any of the processes discussed above in questions 17 to 20?

Phased expansion of the Dormant Assets Scheme

The Dormant Assets Act 2022 expanded the Scheme to include assets from the insurance and pensions; investment and wealth management; and securities sectors, alongside the original banking sector. This is being implemented in phases since legislation was passed in 2022, with the Scheme currently open to participants from the banking, insurance and pensions, and securities sectors.

How would you describe the phased implementation of the expansion of the Dormant Assets Scheme? (select only one)

• Very effective
• Effective
• Neither effective nor ineffective
• Ineffective
• Very ineffective
• Don’t know

Please explain your answer

The Dormant Assets Act 2022 also provides a power to bring additional asset classes in scope of the main scheme. This might include ones which have already been proposed for inclusion but whose suitability needs further exploration, new ones, or ones where dormancy has not yet been identified as an issue. Before this power is exercised, further work must be undertaken to identify these and facilitate their inclusion.

Are there additional asset classes that the government should consider to bring into scope of the Scheme?

Public Sector Equality Duty

The Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED) is a duty on public bodies to consider how their policies or decisions affect people who are protected under the Equality Act 2010. This Call for Evidence will seek views on the potential impacts – both positive and negative – that the operation and expansion of the Dormant Assets Scheme could have on individuals with a protected characteristic under the Equality Act 2010.

What potential impacts do you think the operation and expansion of the Dormant Assets Scheme may have on individuals with a protected characteristic under the Equality Act 2010? (select only one)

• Positive
• Negative
• Mix of positive and negative
• No impacts
• Don’t know

Please explain what you think these impacts would be.

In your view, is there anything that could be done to mitigate any negative impacts? Please explain your answer.

Do you have any further comments on the operation or expansion of the Dormant Assets Scheme?