To date, Engage Mutual has successfully tracked and reunited customers or their beneficiaries with nearly £550,000, out of an approximate £6m held and awaiting claim. But it is a time consuming, investigative process, taking months in some cases.
A national issue, it is estimated that £15bn is lying unclaimed in financial institutions across the UK. Being a customer-owned business, Engage Mutual places significant emphasis on ensuring that best efforts are made to reunite customers or their beneficiaries with lost assets.
The ITV programme, which will highlight the scale of unclaimed assets and dormant accounts in the UK, visited Engage Mutual to discuss the work the mutual organisation undertakes in this area.
The ITV team, featuring academic and genealogist, Nick Barratt (of BBC’s Who Do You Think You Are?) will also trace one of Engage Mutual’s unclaimed funds cases for the programme, which will be aired in the New Year.
Karen Leece, Engage Mutual’s customer administration manager, who undertakes tracing work as part of her role, said:
“We think it’s incredibly important to help raise awareness of this as an issue, particularly in the current economic climate. As a mutual, owned by, and run for the benefit of our customers, it’s important that customers’ money is returned.
“We provide general advice on our website, engagemutual.com, alerting customers to situations where they may lose touch with funds, and also feature an online entitlement claim form for those who think they may have connection with funds held by Engage Mutual.”
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For further information please contact:
Kathryn McLaughlin
Engage Mutual
Tel: 01423 855245
Kathryn.mclaughlin@engagemutual.com
NOTES TO EDITORS
1. Engage Mutual Assurance is a trading name of Homeowners Friendly Society Ltd (HFSL), Registered and incorporated under the Friendly Societies Act 1992, Registered number 964F and its wholly owned subsidiaries, Engage Mutual Funds Limited (EMFL), registered number 3224780, Engage Mutual Services Limited (EMSL), registered number 3088162, Engage Mutual Administration Limted (EMAL), registered number 4301736 and Engage Health Holdings Limited (EHHL), registered numbers 7112411, all of Hornbeam Park Avenue, Harrogate HG2 8XE and Engage Mutual Insurance Limited (EMIL), registered in Gibraltar number 100605 of Montagu Pavilion, 8-10 Queensway, Gibraltar. EMA is also a trading name of Engage Mutual Health (EMH), registered number 515058 of 14 St Cuthberts Street, Bedford, Bedfordshire MK40 3JU, a wholly owned subsidiary company of EHH.
2. HFSL, EMFL and EMH are authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority (FSA). HFSL’s Register number is 110072, EMFL’s FSA Register number is 181487 and EMH’s FSA Register number is 202311. EMIL is authorise to conduct general insurance business by the Gibraltar Financial Services Commission (GFSC) and is regulated by the FSA for the conduct of UK business. EMIL’s FSA Register number is 485680. You can check this on the FSA’s Register by visiting the FSA’s website www.fsa.gov.uk/register/firmSearch Form.do, or by contacting the FSA on 0845 6061234. Engage Mutual investment Funcs ICVC is an investment company with variable capital, Registered in England Number IC00044. EMSL is an appointed representative of EMIL. EMAL, EMSL and EHHL are non-regulated wholly owned subsidiaries of HFSL.
3. Engage Mutual is one of the larger UK mutuals providing simple, value for money savings, protection and investment products. It currently helps over 457,000 customers of all ages to protect, preserve or enhance their welfare, with some of the most straightforward products on the market. 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. More information on Engage Mutual is available at www.engagemutual.com
4. Engage Mutual supports mutuality through links with the Association of Financial Mutuals and Mutuo.
5. Engage Mutual Funds Limited (EMFL) is a provider of the Child Trust Fund direct and in partnership with organisations including Yorkshire Building Society.
6. Engage Mutual has been the title sponsor of the Rugby Super League since 2005 and has extended its agreement to 2010.
7. Engage Mutual announced its entry into the health cash plan market in July 2008 following an agreement of partnership with Wakefield & District Hospital’s Contributory Scheme (WDHCS). Further to this, 30,000 health cash plan customers transferred from Premier Health Benefits (part of WDHCS) to Engage Mutual Insurance Limited.
