Financial institutions hold decades' worth of customer records from direct business, mergers and acquisitions, and legacy systems. Over time, this has created widespread data quality issues, including large volumes of gone away customers where contact information is no longer valid. This challenge has been described as a “data pandemic of tremendous scale” in the UK financial services sector.
This becomes even more critical during bereavement. If a customer is deceased or uncontactable and records are outdated, institutions struggle to progress cases, repatriate assets or fulfil Consumer Duty obligations.
Our Enhanced Gone Away Tracing Support helps financial institutions close these information gaps with confidence. Using a combination of secure data sources, digital tools and human investigation, we help you identify the right customer, locate the correct representative and ensure all reasonable endeavours have been made to contact the rightful owner or executor. This enables cases to move forward smoothly, especially during bereavement and other sensitive life events.
Key Features
High‑Discovery Tracing Approach
Our tracing process reflects what Estatetrace has long delivered to the industry:
- A unique combination of digital capacity and human expertise, resulting in a high discovery rate
- Each case investigated individually rather than relying on automated “black box” matching, ensuring accuracy even with historic or incomplete data
Representative Tracing
Locate executors, administrators or next of kin when:
- A customer is deceased and there is no clear representative
- Mail is returned undelivered
- Case progression requires verified contact details
This supports both bereavement operations and dormant-account remediation.
Gone Away Address Verification
Identify whether a customer has moved address, changed contact details or disengaged from communications.
Some institutions report up to 20 percent of addresses being out of date.
Data Provenance Review
We understand the challenges of legacy customer books and outdated data inherited through mergers and acquisitions. Our process helps you break through these historical inconsistencies and establish a clearer picture of each case.
Clear, Actionable Reporting
Every case returns:
- A plain‑English summary
- Confidence indicators
- Recommended next steps
- Full case notes where human investigation has been completed
Secure and Compliant
All data is handled within our ISO27001 accredited framework, consistent with the expectations of financial institutions handling sensitive customer information.
Benefits
Faster Case Progression
Resolve missing or uncertain customer details so bereavement and dormant accounts can be progressed quickly.
Reduced Operational Burden
Fewer repeat searches, fewer inbound queries and less manual data checking.
Better Outcomes Under Consumer Duty
Clearer evidence, fewer gaps in information and improved treatment of customers and representatives.
Stronger Risk Management
Accurate verification minimises the chance of mis‑contacting, misidentifying or incorrectly progressing a case.
Improved Asset Repatriation
Our process supports institutions participating in the Dormant Asset Scheme, ensuring “all reasonable endeavours” have been made to locate customers or their representatives before assets can be transferred.
Supports Bereavement Journeys
By validating addresses or locating representatives, you reduce delays and minimise repeated contact for families during difficult moments.
Why Choose Us
- Based on proven high‑discovery tracing approaches used across major UK institutions
- Combines human insight with digital tools to achieve stronger results
- Secure, compliant and aligned with regulatory expectations
- Integrates seamlessly into EstateConnect or works as a standalone service
- Designed with bereavement and vulnerable‑customer support at its core
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Notifications
Receive complete, validated information at the point of notification, reducing delays and manual effort.
