The UK charity sector stands to benefit from a £2bn funding windfall from assets lying unclaimed in financial products, a report has found.
This sum was identified by the Independent Dormant Assets Commission, which found untapped assets in products such as dormant insurance policies and pensions.
The commission, set up in December 2015, was tasked with identifying the benefit of including additional types of assets in the dormant assets scheme beyond bank and building society accounts. These include insurance products, stocks and shares, and pensions that have been classed as dormant.
The report, published today, revealed an unclaimed £715m from investments and wealth management; £550m from the pensions and insurance sectors; £150m from securities – as well as £140m from banks and building societies.
As a result, the commission has recommended expanding the current scheme to include a range of these new types of assets. It also suggested keeping firms’ participation voluntary; introducing legislation to facilitate the expansion of the scheme; and keeping it so that customers can continue to reclaim lost assets at any time.
Minister for Civil Society Rob Wilson, who set up the commission, said this money had the potential to help change millions of lives across the country by helping good causes rather than gathering dust in dormant accounts.
“The reason I set up the commission was to unearth new resources that would allow our charities and voluntary groups to become more sustainable and independent,” he added. “But crucially, also to deliver really important local services over the long term.”
Investment Association chief executive Chris Cummings welcomed the commission’s recommendations, adding the report carefully safeguards the interests of savers as well as putting assets to work to fund a wide range of good causes for the UK.
“We call on the government to implement these recommendations and we will work with the industry to help reunite dormant assets with their owners where possible,” he added.
Almost £1bn of dormant accounts money has been identified since the Dormant Accounts Scheme started in 2008. Some £360m of this has been allocated towards supporting good causes including Age UK’s Reconnections programme in Worcestershire, and London’s Think Forward which provides disadvantaged young people with opportunities in education, training and employment.
