Check if you could be due cash windfall from old bank accounts, lost pensions or an income boost

As summer draws to a close and the nation prepares for the colder months ahead, now is the perfect time to check for any lost bank or building society accounts, forgotten pension pots or income top-ups, to give your finances a boost before Autumn. A cash windfall would also help ease the burden of the ongoing cost of living crisis.

Whether it’s sitting in an account that’s long been forgotten about, or whether you’re entitled to it but haven’t yet claimed it, it’s worth looking into the list below to see if there is unclaimed cash lurking out there with your name on it.

A word of warning though, the services listed below are free, but if you search online and are asked to pay to track down a lost bank or pension account, it may be a scam. Here is a look at some of the ways in which people could be missing out – from younger adults to people over State Pension age – and how to go about claiming.

Child Trust Funds

Some young adults could be due a windfall of nearly £2,000 (typically) that they’re unaware of. They may have had a Child Trust Fund (CTF) set up for them when they were younger but the money in them may have been long-forgotten.

CTFs are long-term, tax-free savings accounts for people born between September 1 2002 and January 2 2011, which the young person can then go on to access when they turn 18.

Many children received around £250 each from the state at the time their CTF was started, with those from lower-income families receiving £500. And it’s been estimated that the average value sitting in unclaimed accounts is around £1,900.

According to spending watchdog the Public Accounts Committee, more than £1.7billion sitting in CTFs has not yet been claimed. Recent research from financial services provider Hargreaves Lansdown indicates that, on average, young adults aged 20 to 24 don’t have any money at all left over at the end of the month, so the money could come in very handy.

Contacting the provider directly is a first step in tracking a CTF down. If you don’t know who the provider was, ask your parent or guardian. You could also ask HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) where the account was originally opened.

People can ask HMRC for help to find a CTF if they are a parent or guardian of a child under 18 or if they are someone who is aged 16 or over and looking for their own CTF. More information can be found on GOV.UK here.

Pension Credit

Some people could see their income boosted by thousands of pounds from making a successful claim for Pension Credit, with the average award being worth more than £3,500 per year.

Pension Credit tops up a person’s income to a minimum of £201.05 per week for single pensioners and to £306.85 for couples or more if a person has a disability or caring responsibilities.

Even an award for just a few pence can open doors to other benefits, including help with housing costs, heating bills and Council Tax.

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) estimates that around 850,000 families who were entitled to receive Pension Credit did not claim the benefit, collectively missing out on up to £1.7billion.

The DWP has been sending out letters to some people it believes are likely to be eligible as part of an ‘invitation to claim’ trial – you can find out more about this here.

If you are over 65 and reached State Pension age before April 6, 2016, you could still qualify for Pension Credit if your weekly income is less than:

• £240.90 if you are single
• £351.45 if you are a couple

You can check eligibility and get an estimate of what you may receive by using the online Pension Credit calculator on GOV.UK. Alternatively, pensioners can contact the Pension Credit helpline directly to make a claim on 0800 99 1234 – lines are open 8am to 6pm, Monday to Friday.

More information about Pension Credit can be found here.

Old bank, building society, or NS&I accounts

Go through old paperwork to see if you can get an account number. If you have the basic details of your old account, the simplest thing is to contact the bank directly.

You could also try mylostaccount.org.uk – a free service which brings together the tracing schemes of UK Finance, the Building Societies Association and National Savings and Investments (NS&I) into a single website.

Information provided through an online application form is passed securely to the institutions that may be holding the lost account. They will then make a search.

Lost pensions

With the average person said to have 11 jobs in their lifetime, it’s easy to lose track of a pension pot or two. You can request pension contact details from the Pension Tracing Service by phone or by post, or it is possible to use an online service.

The free Pension Tracing Service helps people to find occupational and personal pensions that they have lost track of, using a database containing information on thousands of pension schemes – find out more on GOV.UK here.

Premium Bonds prizes

Whether your win is life-changing or will enable you to buy a few extra treats, make sure you haven’t missed out on Premium Bonds prizes by using NS&I’s prize checker at nsandi.com/prize-checker.

If you think you have some Premium Bonds but aren’t totally sure, NS&I has a free tracing service. More information about this can be found here.

To keep up to date with the latest cost of living news, join our Money Saving Scotland Facebook page here, follow us on Twitter @Record_Money, or subscribe to our newsletter which goes out Monday to Friday – sign up here.