Glossary · UK
What is Dormant Assets Scheme?
A UK scheme that lets banks, building societies and other financial firms transfer balances from accounts and policies that have been untouched for years to fund good causes, while the original owner retains the right to reclaim their money at any time.
Full Definition
The Dormant Assets Scheme lets participating banks, building societies, insurers, pension providers, investment firms and, since an expansion of the scheme, securities and life assurance businesses transfer the balance of an account or policy that has had no customer-initiated activity for a set number of years (commonly 15 years for bank and building society accounts, with different periods for other asset types) to Reclaim Fund Ltd, a not-for-profit organisation authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority. Reclaim Fund Ltd holds back a buffer of the transferred money to meet future reclaim requests, since a dormant asset can be reclaimed by its rightful owner (or their estate) at any time, in full, with the original firm remaining responsible for honouring valid reclaim requests even after the balance has left its own books. Money that is not needed as a reclaim buffer is released to the National Lottery Community Fund and equivalent bodies in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, which distribute it to good causes such as youth services, financial inclusion projects, and community organisations, rather than the money simply sitting unused or reverting to the financial institution. Being enrolled in the Dormant Assets Scheme does not affect a customer's underlying legal right to their money -- it only changes which organisation is physically holding the balance -- so someone who discovers an old, forgotten account can still reclaim it via the original provider (or via a tracing service such as My Lost Account) whether or not the balance has already been transferred into the scheme.