Although hard to believe, many people forget about money that is stored in bank accounts, pension funds, ISAs and other saving instruments. Until very recently the financial institution instructed to hold this money was under no obligation to find the person to whom the money belongs, should it have remained untouched for a number of years.

The Dormant Bank and Building Society Act, brought into force at the end of 2008, has changed this. It is now the case that if an asset has been left untouched for 15 years or more, the bank or building society holding the money is strongly encouraged to locate the person to whom it belongs, so that the money can be returned. In instances where the money remains unclaimed, a Central Reclaim fund has been set up, to direct these funds towards charitable projects.

The demand to trace these customers or their heirs and beneficiaries (in cases when the original customer is deceased) has therefore grown exponentially in the last six months and Heirtrace, who offer people tracing for asset reunification purposes, has been assisting many of these large financial institutions to deal with this issue.

As a result, Heirtrace has undergone rapid expansion to manage the increased demand, taking on new skilled researchers to add to the expanding team and relocating to new larger premises just outside Norwich City Centre.

The company, which specialises particularly in the field of heir and beneficiary tracing is set for continued growth in 2009 and will be seeking to expand the research team further still, to manage the increased requirements from the financial services industry.