A consultation on the implementation process for applying a 30-year time limit for claims on the Unclaimed Balances fund

The government is introducing a time limit on funds paid into the Court Funds Office for civil claims which remain unclaimed for 30 years or more. After 30 years, the right to claim will be extinguished and the funds will be returned to the Exchequer. An amendment to the Administration of Justice Act 1982 to set a time limit on funds paid into the Court Funds Office for civil claims which remain dormant for 30 years or more was included in the Finance Bill introduced into Parliament in March 2023. The Finance Bill is expected to receive Royal Assent during summer 2023 to become law.

The government is now seeking amendments to the Court Funds Rules 2011 to allow for the surrender of relinquished unclaimed monies to the Exchequer to take effect. As part of this change, we are conducting this public consultation to allow for views from the public and other interested stakeholders on the process, which we will consider before implementation and to help inform the secondary legislation changes to the Court Funds Rules 2011 planned for late 2023/early 2024.

This consultation is open to the public and seeks to gather views on how the government will manage the process of applying a time limit on funds paid into the Court Funds Office for civil claims which remain unclaimed for 30 years or more and returning the funds to the Exchequer.

Unclaimed Balances (UB) are dormant funds where the beneficiary cannot be traced, fails to claim funds or is unknown. At a defined point when there have been no transactions on the account other than the automatic crediting of interest, they are deemed to have become dormant if attempts made by the Court Funds Office (CFO) to trace the beneficiary are unsuccessful. The funds are then transferred to the Unclaimed Balances account. There is presently no provision as to the retention of funds which are paid into court, but which are not claimed, and in the absence of a person coming forward to claim such funds, they will remain with CFO in perpetuity. As a result, the government is looking to change the Court Funds Rules to set out how any transfer of relinquished monies to the Exchequer will be managed.

This public consultation will remain open for a period of 8 weeks, starting from 7 July 2023 and closing on 31 August 2023