A building society account from a first job. A workplace pension from an employer that was taken over twice. A Premium Bond bought by a grandparent. Money in Britain does not disappear when you forget about it — it sits with a bank, a scheme, or the Crown, waiting for someone to ask.
There are four official places to look, they are all free, and between them they cover most of what goes missing. Anyone charging you a percentage to run these searches is charging you for something you can do yourself in an afternoon.
Checkpoints
- My Lost Account — one form covers banks, building societies and NS&I
- The government pension tool gives you a contact address, not a pot value
- Premium Bonds prizes have no expiry date
- Unclaimed estates do have deadlines — and they are long, but real
1 Dormant bank accounts and old savings
My Lost Account is the free service run jointly by UK Finance, the Building Societies Association and NS&I. One online form searches all three schemes at once, so you do not need to remember which bank swallowed which.
Fill in as much identifying detail as you can — former names, former addresses, approximate dates. Each provider replies to you directly rather than through the service.
It is free. It is always free. Firms that advertise “account tracing” are filling in the same form.
2 Pensions you have lost the thread of
Use Find pension contact details, the government service formerly known as the Pension Tracing Service. Type in the name of an old employer or pension provider and it returns their current contact details, even if the company has been renamed, merged or wound up.
Read that carefully, because it is where expectations go wrong: the tool does not tell you whether you have a pension, or what it is worth. It gives you an address. You then write to the scheme yourself with your dates of employment and National Insurance number.
It costs nothing, and the schemes are obliged to look.
3 Unclaimed estates, and Premium Bonds nobody checked
When someone dies without a will and without traceable relatives, the estate passes to the Crown. The Government Legal Department’s Bona Vacantia division publishes the unclaimed estates list and explains who may claim. Spouses, civil partners and children come first; failing that, descendants of a grandparent.
Claiming means proving the family tree. You email a tree with dates of birth, marriage and death, then supply full certificates and two forms of identification. It is slow, and the evidence bar is real.
Unlike the other searches here, this one has deadlines. Claims are generally accepted within twelve years of the estate’s administration completing, with interest. A fully documented claim may still be admitted up to thirty years from the date of death, but without interest. After thirty years, nothing.
Finally, NS&I’s prize checker. Premium Bonds prizes are never written off — there is no time limit. If a bond was bought for you as a child and the address on file is thirty years stale, the prize is still yours.
4 Common mistakes, and how to avoid them
Mistake 1
Paying a tracing agent a percentage of money that four free official services would have found.
Mistake 2
Expecting the pension tool to show a pot value. It returns contact details only.
Mistake 3
Assuming unclaimed estates can be claimed at any time. Twelve years with interest, thirty years without, then never.
Do this today
Run My Lost Account and Find pension contact details back to back. Then check the NS&I prize checker for any bond number you can lay hands on.
FAQ Frequently asked questions
Is there a deadline for claiming a Premium Bonds prize?
No. NS&I holds unclaimed prizes with no time limit, so a prize drawn decades ago is still payable once you identify the holder’s number.
Will the pension tracing tool tell me how much my old pension is worth?
No. It gives you the scheme’s current contact details. You then contact the scheme yourself, quoting your National Insurance number and dates of employment.
How long do I have to claim an unclaimed estate?
Generally within twelve years of the administration of the estate completing, and interest is paid on those claims. A fully documented claim may still be considered up to thirty years from the date of death, without interest. Nothing is accepted after thirty years.
Key takeaways
- One form at My Lost Account covers banks, building societies and NS&I
- The pension tool returns a contact address, never a valuation
- Premium Bonds prizes never expire; unclaimed estates expire at thirty years
- Every one of these searches is free — tracing agents add nothing
