Dormant Bank and Building Society Accounts Bill [HL]

moved Amendment No. 36: 36: Clause 10, page 6, line 25, at end insert— ““( ) An account cannot be treated as dormant until the bank or building society in question has written to the holder of the account indicating the consequences for the account under this Act.”” The noble Baroness said: We now come to a small series of amendments designed to probe the robustness of the definition of ““dormant”” in Clause 10. I have not grouped these amendments because each addresses a slightly different point and I believe it is more efficient in getting a specific answer from the Minister if the points are addressed by individual amendments. Amendment No. 36 adds a new subsection after Clause 10(1) which states: "““An account cannot be treated as dormant until the bank or building society in question has written to the holder of the account indicating the consequences for the account under this Act””." As I understand it, the British Bankers’ Association and the Building Societies Association have agreed that the Banking Code will in future agree text that incorporates a requirement for banks and building societies to write to account holders when they subscribe to the dormant accounts schemes and to remind account holders every three years. The code will also state that the unclaimed assets scheme will apply after 15 years. We support that, but the Banking Code is a voluntary code, and not all banks and building societies subscribe to it—we covered that during the first two days in Committee. While the code is extremely helpful, it has no direct bearing on the definition of a dormant account for the purposes of the Bill. My amendment simply makes it clear that communication is a legal prerequisite before an account can be declared dormant and transferred to the reclaim fund. My amendment thus works with the grain of the agreement of the BBA and the BSA, but makes clear in the legislation what we understand to be the intent behind their approach to the dormant accounts scheme. It would apply to all banks and building societies, whether or not they subscribe to the code or operate it properly having subscribed to it. I hope that the Minister will welcome the amendment, which is aimed at consumer protection. I beg to move.