There are billions of pounds lying unclaimed in bank and savings accounts, pensions, investments and prizes across the UK.
If you've lost track of any of these, you can track them down for free.
What is a lost or dormant account?
A lost or dormant bank account is one that you've not used for a period of time, which could be between two and fifteen years. You might lose track of these accounts if your bank or building society doesn't have your contact details or if you've forgotten about them.
A lost pension or investment is when you have a policy or plan that you've forgotten about and the pension or investment provider doesn't have up-to-date contact details for you, and so can't get in touch.
How do you know if you have money in lost accounts?
There are several signs that you may have a lost account or policy. For example, you may come across some old paperwork. Or you might remember that you have accounts or policies with financial services companies that don’t have your up-to-date contact details.
No matter how long it’s been since you lost contact with your account or policy, any money in it is yours and you have the right to claim it.
How to find your lost money
How you track down lost money will depend on the type of account you may have. There are several different services to help you track down lost accounts; most of which are online. If you prefer, you can normally do this by phone or post.
Most importantly, none of these schemes charge you a penny. You do not have to pay to track down lost money that you’re entitled to.
Dormant bank accounts
If you have money in a lost or dormant bank account or think you might, here’s how you can track it down.
If you know which bank or building society you may have a lost account with, you can contact them directly. However, if you don’t, rather than contact each bank or building society individually, you can use a website called My Lost Account. This is a free-to-use service that helps you trace any lost current or savings accounts.
To use My Lost Account, you’ll need a valid email address and to set up a password. Once you fill in the form, you’ll receive a response directly from the relevant bank or building society telling you whether you have any savings with them. They’ll do this within three months.
You can also use My Lost Account to trace dormant accounts for someone who’s died.
Tracing lost pensions
There are millions of lost pensions in the UK, each worth an average of almost £9,500, so it’s worth taking the time to find any pensions you’ve lost track of.
How you track down your lost pension will depend on the amount of information you have, such as whether you know the name of the company that you have a pension with. Our guide called How to find a lost pension explains the steps you’ll need to take.
As with lost bank or savings accounts, you don’t have to pay to track down lost pensions.
Lost stocks and shares
You might have lost track of shares or investment funds that you bought or received in the past and not know how to track them down. If you know the name of the company you have shares in, you can contact them directly.
If you’re not sure or you can’t find their contact details or the company has changed hands repeatedly, then a share registration company may be able to help.
Companies may also have their own programmes to identify shareholders they’ve lost contact with, and to reunite them with their shareholding. There’s also a free service called Gretel, which may be able to help you track down lost shares.
If you’ve lost touch with investment funds, contact the Investment Association, which can help you track down unit trusts and the Association of Investment Companies (AIC) which can help with investment trusts. For investment trusts, you’ll need to email the AIC at enquiries@theaic.co.uk, with the name of the investment trust and copies (not originals) of any paperwork you have.
Lost Premium Bonds
If you think you have lost Premium Bonds or other products from National Savings & Investments (NS&I), there are two ways for you to track them down.
- Visit NS&I’s website and look for a section called ‘Lost touch with NS&I’
- Use the free My Lost Account service mentioned earlier.
You’ll need to be able to register to use the NS&I website if you don’t already have an account. If you prefer you can download a form and post it back to NS&I or, if you don’t have a printer, you can write to NS&I’s Tracing Service at Tracing Service, NS&I, Sunderland, SR43 2SB.
It’s not just Premium Bonds that people lose track of. Billions of pounds of Premium Bond prizes go unclaimed every year as well (in 2025 NS&I estimated that over £100 million in Premium Bond prizes was unclaimed). You can check whether you’ve won any prizes that you haven’t claimed by logging onto the NS&I website. Or you can download NS&I’s prize checker app (details of the apps are on NS&I’s website).