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Dormant Bank and Building Society Accounts Bill [HL]

moved Amendment No. 37: 37: Clause 10, page 6, line 30, after ““account”” insert ““, other than to post the holder regular yearly or half-yearly statements, if requested by the holder”” The noble Lord said: The purpose of the amendment is to provide an extra layer of protection for those individuals who chose to salt away a few hundred pounds in a bank or building society for a distant rainy day—a rainy day which may never come. It would appear that many, if not most, of the amendments to Clause 10 have the same purpose. As the Bill stands, an account can only remain non-dormant provided that the account holder notifies the bank or building society that he does not wish to be contacted by them for any reason in future. That seems to be a quite unreasonable restriction. Surely any normal or sensible individual would wish to check periodically that the account is still in existence and to know what bank charges, if any, have been levied and interest earned. The amendment is designed to allow for that. However, it seems to me that government Amendment No. 42 might well achieve exactly the same purpose rather more neatly and comprehensively. If that is indeed the case, I shall happily withdraw the amendment. I beg to move.