Press Release

NS&I REUNITES 36,000 SAVERS WITH OVER £35 MILLION IN JUST FIVE YEARS

16 November 2006

Free tracing service increasingly popular as savers wake up to dormant funds

This month marks the fifth anniversary of National Savings and Investments' (NS&I), free tracing service, which has reunited over 36,000 people with £35 million since the launch in November 2001.

In the last year alone almost 12,000 people successfully used the service up from just over 9,000 the year before, suggesting more people are getting their financial house in order.

Growing in popularity

	First Anniversary 2002	Second Anniversary 2003	Third Anniversary 2004	Fourth Anniversary 2005	Fifth Anniversary 2006
Amount traced (cumulative)	£4.2m	£8.2m	£15.2m	£24.8m	£35.0m
Successful traces (cumulative)	3,700	9,400	15,400	24,700	36,600

The total amount traced by NS&I has increased by over £10 million since this time last year, up from £24.8 million to £35 million, while the number of successful traces is up by a third on last year. 

Over a third of the amount traced so far has been in Saving Certificates, with £13.6 million returned to just over 1,400 people. A further £11 million is in Premium Bonds which have been lost over the years.

Losing touch

Research from NS&I shows that people can easily lose track of their savings and investments over time for a number of different reasons, for example 1 in 8 (12%1) people who moved home in the last year forgot to tell all their financial providers their new of address. A further 16%1 think they have lost touch with savings they had from childhood. Also unless Executors are aware that the deceased has NS&I products the money may become forgotten without the correct forwarding details.

No time limit

"It is great news that more people are making use of our free tracing service to get back on top of their finances," said Steve Downey, NS&I's head of customer service.  "It is surprising that such a lot of hard-earned savings are forgotten in the first place but customers can rest assured the money is always safe and there is no time limit in coming forward.

"However, customers can do a lot to prevent money becoming lost in the first place. Moving house without providing a new address is one of the biggest causes of dormant money. It only takes a few minutes to inform us of your new address and it ensures we can stay in touch with you."

Tracing Service statistics

• Approximately one in four (26%) traces is successful.
• The average trace is worth £957
• Premium Bonds is the most 'traced' product, with 48,257 traces initiated since 2001
• It is not just older products which become dormant, over £650,000 has been traced in ISAs, which were only launched in 1999
• NS&I has traced money for people now living in Australia, Thailand, Canada, USA and Italy.

Free tracing service

The tracing service form, available from 0845 964 5000* or at www.nsandi.com needs to be completed in as much detail as possible, including previous addresses, and returned to NS&I.  The customer will be contacted once the trace has been completed, usually within one month.

The British Bankers Association and the Building Societies Association also provide completely free tracing services enabling customers to locate their lost or forgotten funds. 

NS&I does not endorse any company which charges customers a fee to search for lost or forgotten money on their behalf.