Dormant Bank and Building Society Accounts Bill [HL]

My Lords, as I was not aware that the noble Baroness, Lady Noakes, was not proposing to move Amendment No. 11, I was having a relaxed cup of coffee and missed my turn to move Amendment No. 11A. However, as Amendment No. 12 is in many ways an alternative to it, perhaps I may speak to them both. Amendment No. 11A was based on the presumption that it is not unreasonable for an individual to decide to put few hundred or a few thousand pounds into a bank or building society for the proverbial rainy day, and to leave that sum wholly undisturbed for 15, 20 or even 25 years if such a day never arrives. If that is accepted, the account holder should not have to stay awake at night worrying whether his account might be declared dormant against his wishes, nor should he be put to any other form of inconvenience. However, as the Bill is drafted, the only other way in which he can be 100 per cent confident of not having to worry is by formally declaring that he does not want to receive any communication whatever from the bank or building society concerning the account. Who but the most extreme eccentric would in practice want to opt for such a course? I suppose that the only exception would be someone who does not want other members of his family to know that he has a large amount of money stashed away in an account. But such people cannot amount to more than one depositor in 1,000, at the outside. I submit that most normal people would positively want to receive a statement at least once a year to verify that their account was still in existence and had not been misappropriated by some rogue trader. They would also want to know what interest had been earned and what bank charges, if any, had been deducted. Indeed, where interest-bearing accounts are concerned—and most such accounts will earn interest, however little—I suspect that it would be illegal for the bank or building society to fail to send the holder at least a yearly statement setting out the interest earned in the financial year and the tax deducted. How else could the holder complete his or her tax return? Perhaps the Minister could confirm that I am right in that assumption. Amendment No. 11A, which cannot now be moved, would have ensured that such basic information is provided and that the account remains officially non-dormant—officially being the point. It may be that the noble Baroness’s amendment will achieve the same objective in a more roundabout way, the only snag being that the ball would then be entirely in the court of the bank or building society. At least 99 per cent of them can be trusted to be conscientious about this matter, but a few might not be. However, we shall have to wait to hear what the Minister has to say about that.