Protection and other insurance policies accounted for 60% of the value of the £2.5bn of lost or forgotten financial products that were recovered during the first half of the year, according to campaigners.
Billions 4 Millions was launched in January to reconnect consumers with £1bn of lost financial products. With its success in the first six months, the campaign has increased its target to £5bn by the end of the year.
The average value of each successful reconnection was around £31,000, with the largest individual product found being a protection policy offering more than £3.2m of cover.
Pensions accounted for around 80% of successful reconnections, but only 38% of total value recovered.
Insurance and protection represented only 12% of reconnections while the 60% of total value breaks down to an average value of around £157,000.
Investments and child trust funds represented the remaining 8%.
Prioritising reconnections
Billions 4 Millions founder Duncan Stevens (pictured) said: “£2.5bn in six months demonstrates what can happen when firms make reconnecting with lost customers a priority.”
He then pointed to the £31,000 average value of each recovered policy being “even more telling”.
“That challenges the idea that lost assets are generally small balances sitting in old, forgotten accounts.
“They can represent a substantial part of someone’s pensions, long-term savings built up over years or protection insurance that the policyholder has simply lost touch with,” he added.
The campaign is led by Gretel, a platform for finding lost and forgotten financial assets, with support from firms including Aviva, Standard Life, Foresters Financial and JP Morgan.
Value of industry collaboration
Aviva’s customer reconnections manager Tony Carnell said: “Behind every reconnection is a person who may have moved home, changed jobs and forgotten their pension or simply lost track of the paperwork that supports an important part of their financial future.
“Reaching £2.5bn in reconnection value in just six months demonstrates the value of industry collaboration and we’re proud to support all efforts across the sector that help more people reconnect with money that rightfully belongs to them.”
Scale of opportunity
Stevens called for wider industry participation in the campaign after questioning the scale of the opportunity if people can be reconnected with £2.5bn within six months.
“With broader participation, could £7bn be reunited, £10bn or perhaps even more? The difference that could make to people across the country is enormous.
“Our immediate target is £5bn by the end of this year, but we already have one eye on how much more could be reunited if the whole industry took part.”