£1 In Every £1000 In P.O. Savings Bank Is Never Claimed

Auckland Star, Volume LXXVI, Issue 201, 25 August 1945, Page 4

£1 In Every £1000 In P.O. Savings Bank Is Never Claimed

SINCE the New Zealand Post Office Savings Bank was established, deposits totalling £160,672, Which have lain there for a quarter of a century, and have remained unclaimed at the end of that period, have been passed over to the Treasury as a contribution to the Consolidated Fund.

Some people forget that they have money in the bank. Worse still, some have to be convinced that they have placed it there. Not all this apparent indifference to the possession of cash assets is due to* unaccountable lapses of memory. Depositors in many cases draw the bulk of the money standing to the credit of their account and leave in merely a nominal amount to keep it open. They then, either forget all about it, or do not bother to collect a few shillings, particularly if they have moved some distance away. Others never mention to anyone that they are operating an account, misplace the passbook and die without their relatives having any knowledge of the deposit. In 1932 money lying unclaimed in the Post Office Sayings Bank was brought under the scope of the Finance Act. Before that, accounts which had long lain dormant had been carried on indefinitely, some not having been operated on for 60 years. Nearly 67,000 accounts ■of this nature were closed in the big overhaul made in 1932, and about £60,000 passed to the Treasury. Since then, another £60,000 has gone over in the same way to the Consolidated Fund.

Reclaims Possible

Under the provisions of the Finance Act, 1932, accounts which had not been operated on for 25 years were declared unclaimed money and passed to the Treasury. However, the mere production of a passbook for the insertion of interest is regarded as the operation of an account. There have been instances where money has. been reclaimed from the Treasury, and has been paid on production of substantial proof of ownership, so that _it is never really lost.

Accounts of less than £1 are not interest bearing, and there have been cases where a deposit of 1/ has been kept for 25 'years. Most of those accounts closed down in 1932 were for very small amounts, but the credit in a few ran into four figures. Twenty-five years from now, a new harvest may be reaped for the Treasury from National Savings accounts which have been opened, operated for a brief period ana then forgotten. The tendency to overlook small accounts is accentuated where there is a shifting population.

Where money has been claimed after a long period, the accumulation of the deposit in consequence of compound interest has come as an agreeable surprise to owners or relatives. Notices are sent out to depositors or their relatives wherever they can be traced when it is intended, to treat accounts as unclaimed. The most searching investigations are made if no reply is received in an endeavour to establish ownership.

Tracing Next-of-Kln

Every year the ledger cards for accounts which have not Ween operated on for 25 years are segregated, and an attempt is made to trace the depositors or their next-of-kin, but during the last four years some £42,000 has been transferred to the Treasury, the amounts being £10,000 in 1941-42, £7000 in 1942-43, £9000 in 1943-44 and £16,000 in 1944-45. Any claims subsequently made on the Treasury are debited against the amounts to be transferred to it next year by the Post Office.

After his return from the Great War, a certain man did not remember that he had an account totalling several hundred pounds, and it was some time before the Post Office was able to convince him that the money was his.

There was a local businessman who put several hundred pounds into Post Office investment certificates and forgot all about them, and it was not till documentary proof of his ownership was produced that he accepted ownership.

Again, there was a joint trust account in which the ownership of the money passed to the surviving partner. However, it was found inipossible to establish who had died nrst, so the money went to the Treasury.

Accounts are sometimes opened under fictitious names, and where a depositor dies under such circumstances, it is a bit awkward. However, on the establishment of the mam facts, the money is credited to the right quarter, though a guarantee ol indemnity may De sought if slight doubt exists.