Unclaimed funds in forgotten accounts (From The Wiltshire Gazette and Herald)

Unclaimed funds in forgotten accounts

IT HAS been estimated that there is around £20bn of lost personal assets lying dormant or unclaimed in financial institutions across the south west.

The organisation Trust Research Services is currently working on recovering over £50m for clients, many of whom knew nothing about these forgotten assets.

Out of the 20,233 people the TRS has identified as being owed lost assets, a third of people chose to ignore the news. TRS estimates that 138 residents in Somerset and Wiltshire are owed a collective total of £270,000.

Kevin Aylward, managing director of TRS said: "We have identified over £44m in lost assets in both the south west and the UK and that figure represents just the tip of the iceberg.

"Many people are going out and buying lottery tickets, unaware that they are sitting on a very real nest egg."