Dormant Bank and Building Society Accounts Bill [HL]

moved Amendment No. 4: 4: Clause 1, page 1, line 7, after ““account”” insert ““including interest due”” The noble Lord said: This amendment is related to Amendment No. 32 and raises the question of what the position is with regard to the payment of interest on dormant accounts. It may be that the consideration is not particularly relevant, but at all events we need to be clear on the position. With the Swiss situation, we had to set up a most distinguished group of economists to distinguish what the interest rate would have been over that period of 70 years. At some periods it was incredibly low and not really significant. But we ought to be clear whether these accounts will include interest, as the interest will not have been paid in the period during which the account has been dormant, although it may have been—and I presume normally would have been—added to the accounts as they rolled along. Can the Minister enlighten us on what the various banks do? Do they tot up the interest on a dormant account or do they wait until the account is finally claimed and then add it on? Of course, it does not matter either way because they still keep the money, but it would be helpful to know where we are on this point. I beg to move.