A free online hub which reconnects consumers with their lost and dormant accounts including life insurance, pensions and investments, has gone live today.
The Gretel hub claims to reconnect consumers with lost money in less than three minutes and then help them reclaim it. Once a customer has signed up with the service it will keep working for them to constantly look for lost monies and flag any new accounts as and when they are identified.
Gretel said its data showed around £2.0bn in life insurance investments were lost or dormant, with around 2.5m people affected.
The launch follows recommendations of the government’s Independent Commission on Dormant Assets. The Dormant Assets Scheme has received Royal Assent to allow it to expand beyond retail banking to include assets from the insurance, pensions, investment and wealth management, and securities sectors.
Duncan Stevens, chief executive of Gretel, said: “Gretel is a huge step forwards in solving the longstanding issue of dormant assets in financial services.
“At a time when the cost of living in the UK is at its highest level in 30 years, getting the £50bn of dormant, lost and unclaimed money from savings, investments and pensions back into the hands of the consumer, where it belongs, is more important than ever before.
“Gretel research shows that consumers have historically faced an array of barriers relating to cost, complexity and mis-communication when it comes to tracking down lost accounts; Gretel will help them overcome these hurdles and finally get back what is rightfully theirs.”
Chris Cummings, chief executive of the Investment Association, added: “We are excited to be partnering with Gretel to help our members re-unite customers with their savings. We’re urging anyone who is worried they have lost track of their investments throughout the years to register to the platform.”