Charities to benefit from £2bn ‘dormant’ shares and Isas

MORE than £2 billion has been found in unclaimed life insurance policies, Isa accounts and share portfolios, ministers will say today, as they unveil plans to distribute the cash to charities.

The Government has already found up to £1 billion in dormant bank accounts, and distributed £360 million to charities, since 2011.

A report today will say it has found £715 million from investments and wealth management, £550 million from the pensions and insurance sectors, £150 million from securities and £140 million from banks and building societies.

The Independent Dormant Assets Commission was set up in December 2015 to look at whether the dormant asset scheme, which includes funds in banks and building societies, could be extended to other financial services. These include insurance products, stocks and shares and pensions.

Rob Wilson, the minister for civil society, said extending the scheme could change the way the voluntary and charity sectors were funded. “This money could help change millions of lives across the country by helping good causes rather than gathering dust in dormant accounts,” he said.

New rules will set out when the Government can seize the cash: life insurance policies must be left untouched for 120 years, while bank accounts should have been dormant for 15 years.

The minister said financial services companies should make their best effort to find the owners of the cash or their heirs. If no one comes forward, the money is passed to a “reclaim fund” which disperses it. However, if a legitimate owner comes forward later, they will be reimbursed.