ACCOUNTS: If money has not being claimed by April 1st next year, it will then be transferred to a charity fund

If you have money in an account that has been untouched and inactive for many years, it might be time to make inquiries about your funds. On April 1st, the clock began to tick for thousands of dormant bank, building society and post office accounts. If no move is made by account holders by the same date next year, the money will be transferred to a charity fund.

To qualify for the dormant label, an account must have been left unattended by its holder for 15 years or more. Department of Finance estimates, compiled late last year, set the cumulative value of these accounts at about €178 million.

Dormant Accounts legislation was enacted last year to allow inactive money to make its way back into the economy.

Ideally this would be achieved through the rightful account-holders coming back to claim their cash, and financial institutions have begun the process of attempting to contact their officially dormant customers, at least those who hold €100 or more.

The remainder, including customers who have moved from their last-known address or have specifically asked for no correspondence to be sent, will have to make do with newspaper advertisements and other publicity designed to alert them to their riches.

Since factors such as changed addresses, illness, death and lack of knowledge about the account's existence are likely to be at play, it's expected that a high proportion of the money will be unclaimed.

If an account designated as dormant is not reactivated by its owner before the end of March 2003, the money it contains will automatically be transferred to the care of the National Treasury Management Agency (NTMA). It will then be used to fund programmes and projects designed to alleviate poverty and social deprivation.

The scheme will also be applied to programmes to assist people with disabilities or primary school students with learning difficulties. The Dormant Accounts Fund Disbursements Board was established last week.

Information booklets on the subject are being distributed by credit institutions and An Post, and forms will be available to anyone who believes that they have a claim to any of the dormant money.

This group could include the heirs of dormant account-holders who have died.

The institutions involved have been collating the names and addresses of the people whose accounts are dormant and letters are being issued to the affected parties to explain how the funds can be accessed.

AIB is making preparations at present to write to dormant account holders. This exercise is due to commence over the next few weeks, a spokesman for the bank said. "There is not a significant level of interest in branches at this stage but it's likely that this will change after the letters have been issued," he said.

An Post has placed advertisements in national newspapers and has written to 35,000 customers so far. The company expects to write to 80,000 customers in all with balances greater than €100. To date, An Post has identified €50 million in dormant accounts.

Under the new legislation, a set of accounts will become dormant every year from now on, as each 15-year period ends. All is not lost if you discover the existence of an account after the one-year waiting period has elapsed. Funds that have been transferred to the NTMA may be called back by their rightful owner as the right of ownership remains with the original depositor.

Anyone with queries about dormant accounts who does not receive a letter over the summer should contact their local branch for details of how to investigate possible accounts.

There is also a page on the Irish Bankers' Federation (IBF) website, www.ibf.ie, dedicated to dormant accounts. Any customers who believe they may have one and cannot remember the name of the institution concerned (possibly taken over), can check the IBF list for current contact details. The list of contact numbers and helplines is also available by calling the IBF on 01 671 5311.