old savings book not honoured

nachos14

hello all mse's, does anyone have any experience of getting a bank to aknowledge the validity of old savings books? i have one from 1969/70 that was used as a little savings pass book for me after i was born. the last entry was dec 31 1969 and at that time it showed a balance of £20 and 18 shillings. i realise it is not a large amount but with 38 years of interest it should be worth a bit more. now the problem i have is that the bank (natwest :-formerly national provincial) will not give me any details on my old account as they say that records are not kept that long and also said that my parents must have drawn the money out when i was very young and not told me! my parents assure me this is not the case and the only way to draw from this account is to present the passbook which is stamped at the time of transaction. there are no withdrawels at all in this book, so the only conclusion is that the account was never closed and the money in it is floating around somewhere in natwests coffers. i would very much appreciate any advice/help on how to proceed. and would be interested to hear if this has happened to other old bank accounts. many thanks. nachos14

gazebo

there is a scheme which allows people to reclaim lost accounts.

I googled trace old accounts and a few results came up.

This one might help? http://www.bsa.org.uk/mediacentre/press/mylostaccount.htm

rainbow456

hi, about 2 years ago. I wanted to open an old school child saving account which was last it had money put in was in 1989. it was a yorkshire bank saving passbook, my mum told me as i found my old passbook that now it should have some interest on it, so I went to the bank and told at the customer service desk about this account and could they update the account.( I took my passport as ID )the women said like your situation that it is now closed as it is really old, and to open it again she had to send it to another depatment in another town.so she kept my passbook (which worried me a bit) and gave me my passbook photocopy as proof and told me to wait a week, a week after got my passbook back with an update had about £300 with a letter stating that to withdrawal any money,I need to open an new saving account and then just transfer the money over, so went back to the bank, told the customer service desk this, and it she opened a new account, gave an atm card as they dont use passbook now, then money was transfered.well happy.and if later I dont want this account anymore I just withdraw all money and stop using it after a year that means putting money in or withdrawing and it will be closed.

I dont know about natwest policies,but I would have thought all banks are similer when an old customer wants acount updated and their own money.
did you go to the customer service desk or reception as they know more than the just cash handlers and ask to speak to a manager if they dont help.At the end of the day it is your right,its your money not theirs.

Make sure you take ID with you like a birth certificate,passport,driving licence. and if they say you got nothing as your parents must have taken it.then it should say on your passbook a withdrawal of whatever amount was made as the last note. or take your mum with you.

good luck.

Willman_Rodders

As an former Nat West Administration manager I was responsible for overseeing the annual 'dormant account exercise'; this was where inactive accounts were closed, and the balances transferred from my local branch to a central unit. Every branch throughout the country would undertake the exercise. There was a process to go through before we could transfer the account, including writing to the customer at their last known address. But each and every year this process was followed. And, yes, all the High Street banks have many 100's of Milllions of dormant account monies accrued over the years.


From the mid 70's the Bank started to use computers more and more; prior to that time it was a mixture of manual and electronic storage. With the last entry on your account being 1969 I would hazard a guess your account was transferred (and details will be stored electronically) in the mid 70's to the Domant accounts section. In so doing your account details are not with your local bank, but with central records.

Seeing how the staff have changed over the years (and overall the knowledge of previous practises lost) the person you spoke to may be totally oblivious to the former practises.

As far as I recall withdrawals from Savings accounts were not allowed without the passbook i.e. no passbook = no withdrawal. Closure of savings accounts was not allowed either without the passbook return.

I think you will have to go back to the bank and try again - this time trying to find someone with a little more experience (and age?). Ask them for the process of 'dormant account balances' - they can look up the process on their computer index!

If you still receive no joy then you will need to start complaint procedures; whilst a bank is under no obligation to trace 'lost' owners of monies held on its accounts it is under an obligation to pay on demand monies deposited by its clients.

HTH.

Rod

Iamthesmartestmanalive

Willman_Rodders wrote: »

As an former Nat West Administration manager I was responsible for overseeing the annual 'dormant account exercise'; this was where inactive accounts were closed, and the balances transferred from my local branch to a central unit. Every branch throughout the country would undertake the exercise. There was a process to go through before we could transfer the account, including writing to the customer at their last known address. But each and every year this process was followed. And, yes, all the High Street banks have many 100's of Milllions of dormant account monies accrued over the years.


From the mid 70's the Bank started to use computers more and more; prior to that time it was a mixture of manual and electronic storage. With the last entry on your account being 1969 I would hazard a guess your account was transferred (and details will be stored electronically) in the mid 70's to the Domant accounts section. In so doing your account details are not with your local bank, but with central records.

Seeing how the staff have changed over the years (and overall the knowledge of previous practises lost) the person you spoke to may be totally oblivious to the former practises.

As far as I recall withdrawals from Savings accounts were not allowed without the passbook i.e. no passbook = no withdrawal. Closure of savings accounts was not allowed either without the passbook return.

I think you will have to go back to the bank and try again - this time trying to find someone with a little more experience (and age?). Ask them for the process of 'dormant account balances' - they can look up the process on their computer index!

If you still receive no joy then you will need to start complaint procedures; whilst a bank is under no obligation to trace 'lost' owners of monies held on its accounts it is under an obligation to pay on demand monies deposited by its clients.

HTH.

Rod

did the account definitly accrue interest?

If not you may not have a legal right to the funds as after 20 years of non transaction your legal claim expires, although interest being added counts as a transaction