Tracing Bank Accounts and Other Investments

arcam_man

I'm not sure this is the correct forum, if not perhaps someone could direct me to a more appropriate one.
Along with my brother, I'm a registered Power of Attorney for my mother who had a stroke six years ago and is now in a care home.  We have kept track of her main bank account since her stroke, but we're certain she had other accounts and investments (shares etc) that we've struggled to find any information on in her home (she was a hoarder in her later life and things in her house were a mess when she left).  I wondered if anyone knows if there is any reasonably simple way we could help trace all her accounts and investments. We're currently selling her house to help pay for her care, and these other investments will help with these costs.  

colsten

https://www.moneyadviceservice.org.uk/en/articles/tracing-lost-bank-accounts-savings-or-premium-bonds

Not sure how you would trace investments (shares etc) - - may be try the household names, Hargreaves Lansdown, AJ Bell, Halifax Sharedealing

EssexExile

have you tried mylostaccount.org.uk

jonesMUFCforever

Look on her bank statements with narrative 'Div' and the name of a company.
There are only a few registrars left these days so write to Equiniti as an example with your mother's full name and address together with a certified copy of the PoA - they will check share registers for you.
You said she was a hoarder - any mail with dividend cheques in them? Or pieces of papers with an embossed seal marked share certificates. If she dealt in shares pre 2000 then her bank might be holding an envelope in safe custody with the certificates in them, again normally a bank charge every 6/12 months  should show on her bank statement.

Old_Lifer

Perhaps she had accounts which she closed years ago or once had shares which she sold long ago.

Did she have a computer ?    If not, everything would be paper-based.     You said she was a hoarder, so would presumably have kept financial stuff going back years.    Have you found anything at all  to actually  indicate  the existance of other accounts/investments ?

Has the postman been delivering financial mail  (annual account  statements, company accounts ,   etc ....  etc.....) ?

arcam_man

Thanks for the replies. I'm trying mylostaccount for any bank/bs/NS&I accounts. Not sure yet how to find out about her shares. Unfortunately her house was such a mess the paperwork we found wasn't in a good state.

eskbanker

arcam_man said:

Not sure yet how to find out about her shares.

As jones mentioned earlier, contacting the three UK registrars (Equiniti, Computershare, Capita/Link) seems the most sensible route if you don't know the companies concerned - Googling 'trace lost shares' brings back a range of articles explaining how to do this....

EssexExile

arcam_man said:

Unfortunately her house was such a mess the paperwork we found wasn't in a good state.

Good luck. My dad was the opposite - no paperwork in the house except the last month's bank statement!