Old Bradford & Bingley savings account

[Audicab]

I have recently found an old savings book for a Bradford & Bingley account that my gran had. I don't believe this has been closed and still has £6,000 in it. My gran died 10 years ago and the account was set up 25 + years ago.

Do old accounts still stay active, is it a question of walking into a Santander branch (who I believe took over B&B)and getting the money or is there a seperate organisation I have to contact to claim old funds.

If anybody could let me know their experience it'd be great.

Cheers

[Foxhound]

Depends upon the Bank really. The Bank I work for has different status' for accounts based on activity: Active, Inactive, Dormant. If an account goes dormant for over ten years, and the customer fails to respond to communications the account will be shut and the funds moved to an "Unclaimed Balances" account.

You'd need to ask the bank but I imagine they'll be a bit iffy about talking to you given the various implications of Data Protection.

[Audicab]

Thanks Foxhound, if the account is shut and the money transferred is it still possible to get the money back and how difficult a process is it.

I am going to the bank later today and do have the death certificate and paper trail to say that I was the executor of the estate which should be enough for them to talk to me.

Thanks

[Foxhound]

Well I can only speak for my own experiences of similar things, but if you have documentation of the account when it WAS open (and it may very well still be) along with proof of you as executor then it should help things along. It does beg the question of why this wasn't picked up in the Execution of the Estate though?