FORGOTTEN MONEY

Te Awamutu Courier, Volume 64, Issue 4527, 23 January 1942, Page 5

FORGOTTEN MONEY

£36,000 IN EIGHT YEARS SAVINGS BANK ACCOUNTS . FUNDS TRANSFERRED TO TREASURY During the last eight years deposits totalling £36,000, which have lain for a quarter of a century in the New Zealand Post Office Savings Bank, 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 people 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, though in some cases it is. Depositors in many cases draw the bulk of the money standing to their account and leave merely a nominal amount to keep it open. Then they 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 savings bank deposit. ACCOUNTS LONG DORMANT In 1932 money lying unclaimed in the Post Office Savings 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 enclosed in the big overhaul made then, and about £60,000 passed to the Treasury, so that during the history of the Post Office Savings Bank in New Zealand, nearly £lOO,OOO has been transferred from this source to the Consolidated Fund. Under the provisions of the Finance Act, 1932, accounts which had not been operated upon for 25 years were declared unclaimed money and passed to the Treasury. However, the mere production of a pass-book 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 been paid on production of substantial proof of ownership, so that it is never really lost. Accounts of less than £1 are not in-terest-bearing, and there have been cases where a deposit of Is has been kept for 25 years. Most of those closed down in 1932 were for very small amounts, but the credit in a few ran into four figures. Where money has been claimed after a long period, the accumulation of the account in consequence of the compound interest has come as a very 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. Every year the ledger cards for accounts which have not been operated upon for 25 years are now segregated, and an attempt is" made to trace depositors or their next-of-kin. Amounts unclaimed and transferred to the Treasury since 1932 have totalled £36,000, being £3700 in 1933; £2OOO in 1934; £2700 in 1935; £4400 in 1936; £3lOO in 1937; £5600 in 1938; £6BOO in 1939, and £7700 in 1940. Any claims subsequently made against the Treasury are debited against the amounts to be transferred to it next year by the Post Office. ACCEPTED THE INEVITABLE There have been some unusual cases. After his return from ths Great War a man did not remember that he had an account totalling several hundred pounds. This was due to a lapse of memory, but the Post Office was able to convince him, after inquiries which it had instituted, that the money was his. Eventually it succeeded in satisfying him of his ownership, and the money was paid over to a very surprised man. There was a local business man who invested several hundred pounds in Post Office investment certificates and forgot all about them. Upon the production by the Post Office of documentary proof of his ownership, he accepted the inevitable. Again, there was a joint trust account in which the ownership of the money passed to the surviving partner. However, it was found impossible to establish who died first, so the money went to the Treasury. Accounts have been opened under fictitious names, and where a depositor dies in such circumstances it is a bit awkward. However, on the establishment of the main facts, the money is credited to the right quarter, though a guarantee of indemity might be sought if slight doubt exists.