Harrogate, United Kingdom (28th October, 2011) – Engage Mutual, one of the larger UK mutuals providing simple, value for money savings, protection and investment products, has been working with a team of TV researchers and genealogists to track down recipients of unclaimed funds it holds on behalf of customers or their beneficiaries.
Some of its heart warming stories, featuring unexpected windfalls, will be aired on ITV’s prime time 8pm slot, with the first of four episodes starting Tuesday 13th September.
Engage Mutual has been running its initiative to track and trace the owners of unclaimed funds for nearly two years and has so far reunited more than £1.6m.
Steve Barry, director of operations at the mutual, commented: “Working with a TV production company, alongside our existing track and trace programme, proved to be a great opportunity to solve some of the particularly challenging cases relating to the unclaimed funds we hold.”
The problem of unclaimed money is widespread, with an estimated £15bn-£20bn lying in UK financial institutions.
Steve continued: “Tracing the owners of unclaimed funds is invariably a time consuming and often complicated process, and clearly, it would be preferable that money stays permanently connected to its rightful owners.”
The mutual is introducing an awareness initiative and checklist to help customers avoid losing touch with their financial affairs.
Quite simple oversights, such as forgetting to update a change of address, can result in sums of money that were intended for a particular purpose, lying forgotten, or unknown, and consequently unclaimed.
Visit http://www.engagemutual.com/about-us/why-we-are-different/keep-it-will-it-flag-it/for more details.
Editor’s notes:
Engage Mutual’s over 50s life cover plan, easy save, junior easy save, protected investment bond are provided by Homeowners Friendly Society Limited (HFSL). HFSL is Registered and Incorporated under the Friendly Societies Act 1992, Registered number 964F. HFSL is authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority (FSA), FSA Register number 110072.
Engage Mutual’s child trust fund is provided by Engage Mutual Funds Limited (EMFL), Registered number 3224780. EMFL is a wholly owned subsidiary of HFSL and Authorised Corporate Director of Engage Mutual Investment Funds ICVC. Engage Mutual Investment Funds ICVC is an investment company with variable capital. Registered in England number IC00044. EMFL is authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority (FSA), FSA Register number 181487.
Engage Mutual’s health cash plan is provided by Engage Mutual Health (EMH). Registered number 515058 of 14 St Cuthbert’s Street, Bedford, Bedfordshire MK40 3JU. EMH is a wholly owned subsidiary of Engage Health Holdings Limited (EHHL), which is a wholly owned subsidiary of HFSL. EMH is authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority (FSA). EMH’s FSA Register number is 202311. Engage Mutual Health has offices in Harrogate and Bedford.
You can view our details on the FSA’s register http://www.fsa.gov.uk/register/firmSearchForm.do or by contacting the FSA on 0845 606 1234.
Engage Mutual Services Limited (EMSL) is a non-regulated wholly owned subsidiary of HFSL. EMSL is an appointed representative of EMIL. Registered number 3088162.
The following are non-regulated wholly owned subsidiaries of HFSL.; Engage Mutual Administration Limited (EMAL) – Registered number 4301736; Engage Mutual Services Limited (EMSL) – Registered number 3088162; Engage Health Holdings Limited (EHHL) – Registered number 71124.
Engage Mutual Assurance is a trading name of HFSL, EMFL, EMIL, EMH, EHHL, EMAL and EMSL.
About Engage Mutual:
Engage Mutual is one of the larger UK mutuals providing simple, value for money savings, protection and investment products to more than 500,000 customers. Engage Mutual prides itself on being a family-oriented, modern mutual, providing products that help enable households of all kinds to plan their finances to help meet their future needs. Engage Mutual has been the title sponsor of the Rugby Super League since 2005 and has extended its agreement to 2011. More information on Engage Mutual is available at www.engagemutual.com.
Contact:
Kathryn McLaughlin
Engage Mutual Assurance
Tel: 01423 855245 / mob 07794 283788
Post: Engage Mutual Customer Service Department
Hornbeam Park Avenue
Harrogate
HG2 8XE
Tel: 0800 169 4321
International tel: +44 1423 855 000
Email: mail@engagemutual.com
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