DORMANT ACCOUNT 1990 BARCLAYS SAYS A/C # NOT FOUND BUT I HAVE PROOF

EssexHebridean

If your late father’s estate was dealt with via solicitors then it may be worth contacting that firm or their successors to see what they can tell you, although that may be nothing if the file is old enough to be destroyed - without knowing when your father’s death occurred that is an unknown but realistically if over 7 years ago then the paper file may no longer exist. 

Miles86

Zanderman said:

Miles86 said:

This is a classic problem. By historic practice and modern data protection requirements, 6 years after the closure of the account the bank will cease to hold a record of it. They therefore cannot say what happened to an account, simply that they have no record of it, and therefore by process of elimination it must have been closed in the past 

If that were the case for the OP (which it might be) it's not actually a problem - as the situation would prove the account was closed and therefore the OP's premise, that the account must still exist, would be shown to be incorrect.  Problem solved, not problem created.  It is very likely indeed that the account was closed.

The issue here is that the OP seems to believe, for reasons unclear, that the account wasn't closed.  Though the OP has, apparently, no evidence for that, merely evidence that the account did originally exist.  Which is not evidence that still does.

The situation is complicated by the account being with the Woolwich, so the account would, in effect, have been closed (in the sense that the account number eased to exist) when Woolwich customers got new account numbers under Barclays.  So the OP may be looking for the wrong account anyway.

And also massively complicated by the account being the OP's late father's, so would have been part of his estate, and so would, by definition, have been transferred to another name and, almost certainly, another account (quite possibly in an entirely different bank) as part of the probate process.  So the OP may not even be looking at the right bank.

Accounts of deceased people are generally closed - as the account holder is dead - and assets moved to other accounts in the name of beneficiaries, not left in the same place (even with a change of name). It's not clear why the OP is searching for assets in his father's name - unless he thinks this was overlooked at probate.

The OP needs to provide more info on the situation and/or update the thread if we're ever going to understand what's gone on.

Edited to add:  There should, after OP's father's death, have been a statement of accounts compiled by the Executor of the father's estate. That would be the first place to look for this money. 

You're missing my point, the problem is that the OP is asking the bank for proof the account was closed, but the bank doesn't have that, and so the OP won't accept the matter is closed.

As far as death of an account holder goes, you are absolutely right that if the bank were notified it would have closed the account. However if the bank were not notified then it's perfectly plausible an account will just become dormant.

Thrugelmir

Miles86 said:

Zanderman said:

Miles86 said:

This is a classic problem. By historic practice and modern data protection requirements, 6 years after the closure of the account the bank will cease to hold a record of it. They therefore cannot say what happened to an account, simply that they have no record of it, and therefore by process of elimination it must have been closed in the past 

If that were the case for the OP (which it might be) it's not actually a problem - as the situation would prove the account was closed and therefore the OP's premise, that the account must still exist, would be shown to be incorrect.  Problem solved, not problem created.  It is very likely indeed that the account was closed.

The issue here is that the OP seems to believe, for reasons unclear, that the account wasn't closed.  Though the OP has, apparently, no evidence for that, merely evidence that the account did originally exist.  Which is not evidence that still does.

The situation is complicated by the account being with the Woolwich, so the account would, in effect, have been closed (in the sense that the account number eased to exist) when Woolwich customers got new account numbers under Barclays.  So the OP may be looking for the wrong account anyway.

And also massively complicated by the account being the OP's late father's, so would have been part of his estate, and so would, by definition, have been transferred to another name and, almost certainly, another account (quite possibly in an entirely different bank) as part of the probate process.  So the OP may not even be looking at the right bank.

Accounts of deceased people are generally closed - as the account holder is dead - and assets moved to other accounts in the name of beneficiaries, not left in the same place (even with a change of name). It's not clear why the OP is searching for assets in his father's name - unless he thinks this was overlooked at probate.

The OP needs to provide more info on the situation and/or update the thread if we're ever going to understand what's gone on.

Edited to add:  There should, after OP's father's death, have been a statement of accounts compiled by the Executor of the father's estate. That would be the first place to look for this money. 

You're missing my point, the problem is that the OP is asking the bank for proof the account was closed, but the bank doesn't have that

The bank does. See my earlier post. 

eskbanker

Thrugelmir said:

Miles86 said:

the problem is that the OP is asking the bank for proof the account was closed, but the bank doesn't have that

The bank does. See my earlier post. 

???

Your earlier post simply pointed out that Woolwich accounts were converted into Barclays ones in 2007, but if the Woolwich account was closed before 2007 then even if Barclays had a record of it at the time, why would they 14 years later?  Likewise if it was closed post-acquisition but before, say, 2015, then any record of it may no longer be available....

Thrugelmir

eskbanker said:

Thrugelmir said:

Miles86 said:

the problem is that the OP is asking the bank for proof the account was closed, but the bank doesn't have that

The bank does. See my earlier post. 

???

Your earlier post simply pointed out that Woolwich accounts were converted into Barclays ones in 2007, but if the Woolwich account was closed before 2007 then even if Barclays had a record of it at the time, why would they 14 years later?  Likewise if it was closed post-acquisition but before, say, 2015, then any record of it may no longer be available....

The OP is claiming that the old Woolwich account is dormant. Factually this cannot be true. The bank doesn't have to prove anything further at this juncture. The Woolwich accounting system would have been switched off a long time ago. 

eskbanker

Thrugelmir said:

eskbanker said:

Thrugelmir said:

Miles86 said:

the problem is that the OP is asking the bank for proof the account was closed, but the bank doesn't have that

The bank does. See my earlier post. 

???

Your earlier post simply pointed out that Woolwich accounts were converted into Barclays ones in 2007, but if the Woolwich account was closed before 2007 then even if Barclays had a record of it at the time, why would they 14 years later?  Likewise if it was closed post-acquisition but before, say, 2015, then any record of it may no longer be available....

The OP is claiming that the old Woolwich account is dormant. Factually this cannot be true. The bank doesn't have to prove anything further at this juncture. The Woolwich accounting system would have been switched off a long time ago. 

I'm not necessarily disagreeing with any of that, but none of it relates directly to your previous post, in which you were asserting both that 'the bank does [have proof of closure]' and that your earlier post supported that in some way!

Thrugelmir

eskbanker said:

Thrugelmir said:

eskbanker said:

Thrugelmir said:

Miles86 said:

the problem is that the OP is asking the bank for proof the account was closed, but the bank doesn't have that

The bank does. See my earlier post. 

???

Your earlier post simply pointed out that Woolwich accounts were converted into Barclays ones in 2007, but if the Woolwich account was closed before 2007 then even if Barclays had a record of it at the time, why would they 14 years later?  Likewise if it was closed post-acquisition but before, say, 2015, then any record of it may no longer be available....

The OP is claiming that the old Woolwich account is dormant. Factually this cannot be true. The bank doesn't have to prove anything further at this juncture. The Woolwich accounting system would have been switched off a long time ago. 

I'm not necessarily disagreeing with any of that, but none of it relates directly to your previous post, in which you were asserting both that 'the bank does [have proof of closure]' and that your earlier post supported that in some way!

Spent my working life dealing with people who hated committee style meetings that dragged on. Direct and to the point. Cut through the noise. 

Most importantly. Where's the evidence that the account still exists? There must be attics full of old paper work. 

eskbanker

Thrugelmir said:

eskbanker said:

Thrugelmir said:

eskbanker said:

Thrugelmir said:

Miles86 said:

the problem is that the OP is asking the bank for proof the account was closed, but the bank doesn't have that

The bank does. See my earlier post. 

???

Your earlier post simply pointed out that Woolwich accounts were converted into Barclays ones in 2007, but if the Woolwich account was closed before 2007 then even if Barclays had a record of it at the time, why would they 14 years later?  Likewise if it was closed post-acquisition but before, say, 2015, then any record of it may no longer be available....

The OP is claiming that the old Woolwich account is dormant. Factually this cannot be true. The bank doesn't have to prove anything further at this juncture. The Woolwich accounting system would have been switched off a long time ago. 

I'm not necessarily disagreeing with any of that, but none of it relates directly to your previous post, in which you were asserting both that 'the bank does [have proof of closure]' and that your earlier post supported that in some way!

Spent my working life dealing with people who hated committee style meetings that dragged on. Direct and to the point. Cut through the noise. 

Most importantly. Where's the evidence that the account still exists? There must be attics full of old paper work. 

Again, not necessarily disagreeing with any of that, but that's perhaps because I don't really know what you're actually trying to say, so if you believe that you're being direct and to the point, cutting through the noise, then I'm afraid your series of apparently unconnected gnomic posts on this thread has exactly the opposite effect, on me at least!

Having said that, I do agree with the late point about the onus being on OP to stump up some evidence that the account does exist, rather than expecting a bank to prove it doesn't (which is why I made a similar point last week on page one).

born_again

talkmagic007 said:

I'll make a long story short.
Mum passed in June 2021, going through the paperwork I came across a bank statement from The WOOLWICH. when my late father retired he paid his retirement  cheque into
Its a fairly large sum over 10K in 1990

I know Barclays bought out The Woolwich, I wrote to mylostaccount.org.uk, who replied "Account not found"

I wrote to Barclays, no reply, wrote again, no reply

So i inquired further by going into the local Barclays, where I sat with the manager Andrew.
He used his in branch mailing system to inquire about this dormant account, and said Barclays 'should' reply in 12 weeks
In less than 2 weeks Barclays sent a letter saying "Account not found" It would have helped if they looked for my fathers name instead they searched for my late mother name.
rang barclays today, finally got through after going through sooo many 'options' on the keypad.
The operative was brilliant, said write into the COMPLAINTS TEAM giving all the documents, blah blah.
My question here is:-
I have the original woolwich bank statement showing the amount paid in along with interest (it was a 'prime account') and nothing has been withdrawn.
All im getting from Barclays is "Account not found"
IF i get this again from Barclays......what would be my next course of action?

Thank you

As I see it. You have one statement with a amount being paid in. But no others. So that's a possible 300+ that will give more information if the account is still active.

So in the last 31 years anything could have happened to that account in terms of closures. As previous statements do not update to new account status.
I'm sure many of us could find a old statement from our parents with a nice balance on it at some point. But it does not really prove anything other than they had that account in the month the statement was for.


So I would take it that at some point in that 31 years your parents closed the account & spent the money.

If mylostaccount.org.uk & Barclays can not find the account then it has been long closed.