The Dormant Assets Scheme
Information about the Dormant Assets Scheme, including its impact to date and expansion
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About the Dormant Assets Scheme
The Dormant Assets Scheme is led by industry and backed by the government with the aim of reuniting people with their financial assets. Where this is not possible, this money goes towards social and environmental initiatives across the UK. Consumer protection is at the heart of the Scheme. Owners are able to reclaim what they would have been owed had their asset not been transferred into the Scheme at any time.
A dormant asset is a financial product, such as a bank account, which has not been used for many years, and which the provider has been unable to reunite with its owner. The Scheme allows businesses to transfer funds voluntarily from dormant assets. They can decide if they want to join and how much they transfer.
Businesses’ first priority is to reunite owners with their assets. This includes trying to locate people who might have moved house – for example, by tracing them via Royal Mail, email, telephone, a tracing service, or a credit reference agency.
If the asset has been classified as dormant and cannot be reunited with its owner, it can be transferred to the Scheme’s administrator Reclaim Fund Limited (RFL). RFL manages the funds, retaining enough to meet any reclaims and distributing the rest to social and environmental initiatives via The National Lottery Community Fund (TNLCF).
The Dormant Assets Act 2022 expanded the scope of the Scheme to include assets from the insurance and pensions, investment and wealth management, and securities sectors. Work is now underway to implement the expansion of the Scheme, which requires close collaboration with RFL, HM Treasury, key industry stakeholders and relevant regulators.
The Scheme is entirely reliant on the voluntary participation of the financial services industry. This means that businesses can decide if, when and how much they want to transfer to RFL. All major high street banks and the largest building society have joined the Scheme.
It is estimated that the Scheme’s expansion could make a further £880 million available for social and environmental initiatives across the UK – in addition to ongoing flows from dormant bank and building society accounts.
The impact of the funding on communities across the UK
The Scheme has so far enabled £892m to be released to support social and environmental initiatives across the UK. The money is split between England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, and each nation makes its own decisions on how the money is spent.
The work funded by the Scheme aims to tackle some of society’s most pressing challenges. In England, the Scheme provides long-term, flexible funding that enables expert organisations to focus on creating positive systemic change to important issues such as youth unemployment, problem debt, and climate change.
To support those struggling with the cost of living in England, it was recently announced that £76m of dormant assets funding would be released to help people to get out of debt and assist social enterprises with innovative energy-saving solutions.
In England, expenditure is currently ring-fenced for initiatives focused on youth, financial inclusion or social investment. To date over £771m has been allocated to these three causes, split across four different organisations:
- The Youth Futures Foundation (£110m)
- Fair4All Finance (£145m)
- Big Society Capital (£433m)
- Access – The Foundation for Social Investment (£83m)
Following a public consultation in 2022, community wealth funds will soon become a new, fourth cause for funding in England.
In Wales, dormant assets funding is going towards a mix of projects focusing on climate change and sustainability, and supporting young people with disabilities into employment. Read Ryan’s story about how he secured his dream job in a hospital and has worked throughout the pandemic.
In Scotland, dormant assets funding is being used to improve the physical and mental wellbeing of young people by supporting them to learn new skills and enter employment through the Young Start programme.
In Northern Ireland, dormant assets funding is used to increase the capacity, resilience and sustainability of the voluntary, community and social enterprise sector, which will provide multi-year, flexible support for the sector.
Industry participation
The success of the UK’s Dormant Assets Scheme is testament to the commitment and drive of participating businesses that have led the charge in responding to the imperative to put assets lying idle to good use. We encourage all those that are eligible and not already participating to consider joining the Scheme.
How owners can reclaim their assets
Owners can trace their dormant assets through a variety of means:
| Banks and building societies | Under the current Scheme, customers should contact the firm that held their funds in the first instance, or they can trace their dormant bank accounts through My Lost Account |
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| Insurance and pensions | Owners can visit the Association of British Insurers’ (ABI) website for guidance on tracing lost assets and can also use this tool to search for a lost pension. |
| Investment and wealth management | Owners can use the Investment Association’s Unclaimed Assets Portal or contact firms directly using their searchable list of firms for the sector. |
| Securities | Owners should reach out to their individual issuer in the first instance, who can then direct them to the correct registrars to support tracing. |
Related Content
Government response to the consultation on expanding the Dormant Assets Scheme
Consultation on expanding the dormant assets scheme – Feb 2020
The Dormant Assets Scheme: A Blueprint for Expansion – April 2019
Government Response to the Commission on Dormant Assets’ Report – Feb 2018
Dormant Assets Commission: final report to government
Dormant Assets Scheme bolstered by Industry Champions – June 2018
Statement of intent for the dormant accounts’ youth programme – March 2018
Statement of intent for the dormant accounts’ financial inclusion programme – March 2018
Tackling Dormant Assets – Recommendations to benefit investors & society – March 2017
Dormant Bank and Building Societies Account Act - 2008
Updates to this page
Published 23 July 2018Last updated 17 July 2024 + show all updates
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An link has been added to the following document: Securities - Adjoining Articles and Explanatory Notes
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The page has been updated to reflect recent developments following the Dormant Assets Act 2022 and recent spend consultation
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Accessible HTML version of Government Response to the consultation added - 18/01
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First published.