A practical executor guide to tracing bank accounts, pensions, NS&I savings, investments, policies, and other assets using free UK tools and paid searches only where needed.
This guide is part of ProbateHelp's Estate Assets guide cluster. Estimated reading time: 18 min.
Not for most early tracing steps. My Lost Account, Gretel, the NS&I tracing route and the Pension Tracing Service can usually be started before the grant. Some detailed searches, such as a deceased person's statutory credit report or professional credit and liabilities search, may require formal proof of authority such as a Grant of Probate or Letters of Administration.
It varies. Paperwork checks are immediate. My Lost Account can take up to three months because each participating institution responds separately. NS&I aims to respond within about a month. Gretel runs continuously and can alert you later if a match appears. A professional search is usually quicker, but it is a paid service and is not always needed for a straightforward estate.
My Lost Account is the official free tracing service for lost or dormant UK bank, building society and NS&I accounts. Gretel is also free and searches a wider range of possible assets, including some pensions, shares, investments and Child Trust Funds. They are not identical, so using both is sensible.
HMRC may hold useful tax records, including employment income, pension income, Self Assessment information and bank interest data. Once HMRC has been notified of the death, the personal representative can contact the bereavement team and ask what information can be shared for estate administration.
No. The Pension Tracing Service gives contact details for pension schemes. It does not confirm membership, entitlement or value. You still need to contact each scheme administrator with the death certificate and proof that you are entitled to act for the estate.
A credit report is only a cross-check. It will not reliably show pensions, life insurance, NS&I products, cryptocurrency, overseas accounts, physical cash, jewellery, art, vehicles, private loans or business interests. Those need separate checks.
You should take advice before ignoring it. A newly discovered asset may need to be collected, reported to HMRC, added to estate accounts and distributed to the correct beneficiaries. If tax figures already submitted to HMRC were wrong, a corrective account may be needed.