How to be an inheritance hunter
So it may be understandable if an out-of-the-blue phone call claiming that you are entitled to a sizeable inheritance seems too good to be true.
But thousands of families are enjoying windfalls from relatives they have never met, and sometimes didn't even know existed. And the value of those windfalls is growing every year thanks to the boom in property prices. Indeed, tracking down long lost relatives is now becoming big business for some sleuths.
There is a public list run by a little-known government department that contains all the estates in England and Wales left by those who have died without a will or a clear next of kin. With almost 5,800 names on the list, there could be significant estates sitting ready to be claimed.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Times
an hour ago
- Times
Public sector reform may be the only route left for Labour
It is more than a quarter of a century since Tony Blair complained about the 'scars on my back' from two years of trying to reform the public sector. As the Cabinet Office supremo, Pat McFadden, noted in a speech on the same subject in December, Blockbuster Video and Toys R Us were still in operation at the time of Blair's comments, while Airbnb, WhatsApp and Spotify had yet to be born. Twenty-six years later, creative destruction has reshaped the private sector, in some ways unrecognisably, but the same old arguments swirl about modernising government. The case for public sector reform has become more urgent after the reversals of the past few weeks. A partial U-turn on cuts to winter fuel payments, at a cost of almost £1.3 billion, turned out to be a mere appetiser for a near-total capitulation on attempts to cut welfare by nearly £5 billion. Those surrenders, plus a possible downgrade of the independent fiscal watchdog's productivity forecasts and other revisions, could blow a £30 billion hole in the public finances. After £40 billion of tax rises in October's budget — which put the UK on course for a record postwar haul of 37.7 per cent of GDP — the drums are beating to the rhythm of more taxes this autumn. Breaking a manifesto promise not to increase the burden on 'working people' could cost the chancellor her job. Cranking up taxes even further on businesses — which have swallowed £25 billion of extra national insurance contributions — and on capital gains, carried interest and inheritances would place another drag on already sluggish growth. Labour may have been handed an ugly fiscal picture by the Conservatives last year, but it is getting worse. Much valid criticism has been made of Rachel Reeves, Sir Keir Starmer and senior colleagues for their failure to persuade a recalcitrant parliamentary party of the need for realism in spending cuts. Although the winter fuel business was handled badly politically, reducing payments was right in principle, and £5 billion should have been just the start in controlling a benefits bill that is predicted to swell to £378 billion by 2030. The simple fact is that Labour is showing itself incapable of getting the nation's costs down, and higher taxes would stifle the economy. Sharpening public sector productivity is the only plausible third way. Three articles we carry today offer a way forward. Sir Mark Rowley, the Metropolitan Police commissioner, argues that the present model of 43 county-based forces has not been fit for purpose 'for at least two decades' and should be replaced by 12 to 15 regional forces. He says this would reduce back-office duplication and allow the enlarged groups to make better use of technology. Rowley also makes the point that creaking social services are frequently forcing police officers to take on the role of social workers, especially in cases of children missing from local authority care. Penny Dash, the new chairwoman of NHS England, says the health service's dysfunctional bureaucracy makes her 'just want to cry'. There are examples of brand-new scanners lying idle, unused buildings on the NHS estate, operating theatre times routinely slipping and appointment letters being sent out to patients after they were due to be seen. Dash wants to open up data on NHS performance, including on individual doctors and teams, saying the institution should go 'really big on transparency'. Today we also report on the scandal of HS2, a rail project that could end up costing more than £100 billion despite suffering repeated delays. We reveal how contracts were struck with the private sector, on behalf of the taxpayer, that contained no element of risk. This meant that there was no incentive for many of the contractors to operate efficiently, as they were safe in the knowledge that if the costs over-ran, the taxpayer would pick up the tab. The new boss of HS2 has pledged to renegotiate the contracts. His approach should be replicated across Whitehall. In truth Labour has so far taken the easy options for improving public sector performance, awarding workers above-inflation pay rises and increasing capital budgets. Sensible cabinet ministers now accept in private that those pay deals should never have been struck without some kind of union commitment to workplace reform. The next steps will now be harder, involving confronting vested interests, including Starmer's own backbenchers. Blair, with his record landslide in 1997, was prepared to sustain scars in pursuit of reform — and even he made limited progress. The big question is whether Starmer and his team are up for and up to the challenge.
South Wales Guardian
an hour ago
- South Wales Guardian
Conservatives will look to amend Government welfare Bill
Kemi Badenoch will pledge that the Tories are 'now the only party committed to serious welfare reform' after Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer shelved plans to restrict eligibility for Pip in the face of a backbench revolt this week. Ministers have warned there will be costs to their backtracking on the plans, as Downing Street and the Treasury will be looking to cover the spending shortfall left by the decision. The Tories will look to lay amendments to the legislation – set to be renamed the Universal Credit Bill – and party leader Mrs Badenoch is due to deliver a speech on welfare on Thursday. Among the amendments the Conservatives will propose is a requirement for eligibility for Pip to be determined by a face-to-face meeting, rather than virtually. As part of the Government's reforms, the Department for Work and Pensions has proposed a new 'severe conditions criteria' for universal credit. Claimants in this category will be entitled to a higher rate of the benefit, and will not be routinely reassessed to receive money. Another of the Conservatives' amendments would prevent somebody from being classed as having a severe condition for the purpose of universal credit only by having anxiety, mild depression, or ADHD. The third amendment would block the increase in universal credit and restrict Pip for some people who are not British citizens. In her welfare speech, Mrs Badenoch is expected to say that the Conservatives are 'the only party that is prepared to take the tough decisions to get spending under control'. 'I have no doubt that, emboldened by their success in forcing Starmer to U-turn last week, Labour's backbench MPs will now be eyeing up more concessions,' she will say. The original welfare proposals had been part of a package that ministers expected would save up to £5 billion a year, and economists are now warning that tax rises are likely to plug the gap left by the concessions to rebels. On Friday, Chancellor Rachel Reeves admitted that the fallout over the Government's welfare Bill had been 'damaging' and did not rule out tax rises in the autumn budget. It came after images of the Chancellor crying during Prime Minister's Questions on Wednesday spooked the financial markets and led to questions about her future, although a spokesman said she was upset by a personal matter. In an interview with The Guardian, Ms Reeves said it would be 'irresponsible' to rule out the idea of tax rises and warned 'there are costs to what happened' with the welfare Bill. The Sunday Times reported that the two-child benefit cap could be unlikely to be scrapped – as many Labour backbenchers want – as ministers look to balance the finances.
Wales Online
2 hours ago
- Wales Online
New map shows the areas of Wales most vulnerable to Government DWP benefit reforms
New map shows the areas of Wales most vulnerable to Government DWP benefit reforms Some parts of Wales have twice as many claimants of as average Many people in Blaenau Gwent cite psychiatric disorders as their reason for claiming. Picture shows Ebbw Vale (Image: South Wales Echo ) The areas of Wales with the highest number of people who receive Personal Independent Payments (PIP) are revealed in a new map which shows the areas most vulnerable to any government reform . One part of Wales has more than twice the rate seen across England and Wales. PIP is a a benefit designed to assist with additional costs resulting from long-term disability or ill-health which was established in 2013. Recipients can receive £73.90 a week to help with their living costs at the standard rate and an additional £29.20 if they qualify for mobility help. At the enhanced rate for more severe disabilities, they qualify for £110.40 daily living support and £77.05 in mobility help - totalling £187.45. The UK government had planned to cut the number of people who would qualify for the benefit by making it more difficult to qualify under the points-based system by which people's disability is assessed. However Keir Starmer was forced to back down amid the face of a rebellion by his own MPs. The government was ultimately able to pass its benefits bill by a margin of 75 votes, but only after making last-minute concessions to Labour rebels that left it unrecognisable. It has now promised not alter PIP rules until it had time to consider a review's findings. Deemed a "moral imperative" by the Prime Minister, the reforms were aimed at encouraging capable people to return to work, while reducing the welfare bill by £5bn and boosting employment rates. As of April 2025, data from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) revealed that more than 3.7 million people are beneficiaries of PIP across England and Wales, some 8.3% of the population. Article continues below But the distribution is uneven, with certain areas showing far higher concentrations of claimants than others. Wales has a higher proportion of claimants to England with 11.7% of people here receiving the benefit. Wales has some of the highest rates in the UK with four Welsh constituencies in the top ten in England and Wales. In Blaenau Gwent and Rhymney, 17.4% of working age adults claim PIP. This is followed by Aberafan Maesteg on 17.4%, Merthyr Tydfil and Aberdare at 15.9% and Rhondda and Ogmore at 15.7%. Only two areas of England have higher rates of PIP claimants than Blaenau Gwent and Rhymney, Liverpool Walton on 18.6% and Easington in the north east of England on 17.8%. The ten constituencies with the highest rate of PIP claimants in England and Wales Liverpool Walton, north west England - 18.6% Easington, north east England - 17.8% Blaenau Gwent and Rhymney, Wales - 17.4% Aberafan Maesteg, Wales - 16.9% Knowsley, north west England - 16.8% Blackpool South, north west England - 16.5% Birkenhead, north west England - 16.5% Bootle, north west England - 16.3% Merthyr Tydfil and Aberdare, Wales - 15.9% Rhondda and Ogmore, Wales - 15.7% The percentage of PIP claimants in Blaenau Gwent and Rhymney is more than twice the average rate in England and Wales. In Blaenau Gwent and Rhymney, 34.4% of claimants cite mental health or psychiatric disorders as their reason for claiming. Another 24.5% do so due to general musculoskeletal disease, with an additional 14.4% for regional musculoskeletal disease, 10% for neurological disease, and 4.4% for respiratory disease. According to the most recent data from the Office for National Statistics released in May 2024, the employment rate in Blaenau Gwent was 69.4% in the year ending in December 2023. This is a decrease compared with the year ending December 2022 when the local rate was 73.8%. Across Wales in the year ending December 2023, 74.1% of people aged 16 to 64 years were employed. This was higher compared with the previous year, when 73.3% of people were employed. During the year ending in December 2023, the unemployment rate was 4.1% - an increase compared with the year ending December 2022 when the unemployment rate was 2.9%. However the number of people claiming unemployment-related benefits was 4.3% in the year leading to March 2023 was 4.3%. This figure remained the same in the following year leading to March 2024. Around 11,500 people or 26.4% of the population aged 16 to 64 years in Blaenau Gwent were "economically inactive" in the year ending December 2023. This compares with around 10,700 people (24.7%) in the year ending December 2022. People are classed as "economically inactive" if they are not in employment but don't meet the criteria for being "unemployed". This means they have not been seeking work within the previous four weeks or were unable to start work within the next two weeks. Article continues below Common reasons include being retired, looking after the home or family or being temporarily or long-term sick and disabled. Economic inactivity in Blaenau Gwent is higher than across Wales and Great Britain. Across Wales, 23.0% of people aged 16 to 64 years were economically inactive during the year ending December 2023, a decrease compared with the year ending December 2022 when 24.4% were economically inactive.
