What to do when you find a lost bank card

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I wanted to make a constructive contribution to this topic to help others and answer the question. ( @markgengine’s original post)

Unfortunately, the topic was closed before I was able to contribute. I’ve set out some information below that hopefully helps others in a similar situation be it with a Monzo card or one issued by another organisation.

Police No Longer Record Lost Property

Since Monday 1st October 2018, Police Forces across the United Kingdom stopped taking reports, at front counters or via 101, of lost property from members of the public.

This national move comes after discussions between police forces and the National Police Front Counters Forum (NPFCF).

There is no statutory duty for police forces to maintain a system of recording non-evidential property (lost and found) and, in a bid to reduce non-essential demand and associated costs and bureaucracy, a proposal to cease the recording of lost property reports was approved by the NPCC (National Police Chiefs Council).

Reporting Lost / Found Property

Lost property can be reported at any at a number of places online for example:

mylostbox.com – Free service (appears defunct)
immobilise.com – Free service
reportmyloss.com/uk – Fee may be charged

Report My Loss provides a printed numbered ownership certificate, confirming the details of a lost item to be given to insurance companies in the event of a claim. They do charge a fee for this service.

Report Lost Property

Lost Debit, Credit and Store Cards

Report the loss directly to the debit/credit provider. They will see to cancelling the cards and be able to issue a replacement card.

My advice would be, on finding a lost bank card, to destroy it. It’s safer for the bank to issue a new card to the cardholder.

HTH

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Thank you for this helpful post!

If police no longer record lost property, what do I do if I find a wad of £50s or a Galaxy Z Fold2 5G?

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Excellent post @anon70107404!

Would you mind posting your source(s) RE this section please:

So that others my check and verify this for themselves. I’ve done some brief googling on the matter and the term may was always used in between Police and No in the news articles discussing that, which suggests it might not be that clear cut.

I just also want to point out, that for those of us in Scotland, this does not apply as they absolutely still do record lost property.

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Essex police still have a lost property website and says you should bring lost property to them if found - albeit I only clicked on high value items. If there are personal details or identifiable information (such as on a bank card) I imagine the answer might be the same

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I’d probably cut the card and send a photo to the issuing bank.

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It came from the police.

The National Police Front Counters Forum (NPFCF).
The National Police Chiefs Council (NPCC).

There are 43 forces in England & Wales. As you already know, Scotland does things differently.

Indeed. It’s well known that they have 43 solutions to any given problem.

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Good question on the cash. I’d be inclined to check with the police on this one. As I say, there is no statutory duty and (as highlighted above) some may still take found property.

I’ve listed the guidance for other things here.

Please, remember I don’t make the rules, I’m just trying to help

Lost UK Passport

A UK passport should be reported it as soon as possible to the passport office. They can be contacted on their advice line 0300 222 0000 between 8am and 8pm Monday to Friday and between 9am and 5.30pm on weekends and public holidays.

Or use the Gov.uk gov.uk/report-a-lost-or-stolen-passport website to submit a report online.

Lost/Found Non-UK Passport

If it is a lost non-UK passport, it should be reported to the appropriate Passport-issuing authority.

A found non-UK Passport must be taken to the nearest police station front office.

Lost/Found ID (Non-Passport)

For other lost identification documents such as birth certificates, the lost report should be made directly to the office that issued it.

Lost Hazardous / Dangerous Items

Items such as ammunition, firearms, weapons, chemicals, poison or toxins if lost must be reported to police immediately on 999.

Lost Driving Licence

Contact the DVLA directly. A DL is reported and replaced online through the DVLA website gov.uk/apply-online-to-replace-a-driving-licence .

Lost Bicycle

Bikes are registered and reported lost at bikeregister.com.

Lost Mobile Phone

Contact the appropriate mobile provider directly to let them know and they can lock the account too.

Lost Medication / Prescription Drugs

Contact the GP, local pharmacist or call 111 to speak to a fully trained advisor.

Lost in a Public Place, Premises or on Public Transport

Contact with the company, owner or transport provider direct is advised. They will likely have their own lost property service.

Lost Debit, Credit and Store Cards

Report the loss directly to the debit/credit provider. They will see to cancelling the cards and be able to issue a replacement card.

Lost Jewellery / Valuables

Recommended that these items are registered together with an uploaded photo. If lost, report using one of the methods described above.

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Thanks very much!

And great job compiling such helpful information for people.

I’ve done a little more digging and found another resource I think might be worth sharing and adding on to the excellent information you’ve already provided.

A few notable segments:

Items of property no longer accepted by Police

These are items of found property no longer to be accepted by the UK police forces, unless suspected of being involved in a crime.

• Bicycles
• Kitchen knives and cutlery
• Empty handbags, bags, wallets and purses
• Cases
• Clothing
• Perishable goods
• Animals
• Rubbish/Waste
• Umbrellas
• Keys
• Spectacles
• Watches (except if capable of containing personal data)
• Jewellery

Items of property deemed acceptable to hand in for police processing

These are items of personal property deemed acceptable and/or legally required to be handed into a police station so that appropriate legal measures and obligations can be fulfilled.

• Items capable of containing data for example mobile phones, computers, tablets.
• Cash within wallets that are identifiable
• Unidentifiable cash
• Items suspected of being involved in crime
• High Value Items
• Firearms and ammunition
• Weapons
• Drugs
• HM Forces ID, Equipment and Force Medals
• Explosives
• Chemicals

The rest of the article is well worth reading in full as it touches upon some grey areas, and provides some insightful information.

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Certainly worth sharing but a little misleading at the start: Police absolving responsibility for lost property …they never had any statutory responsibility for this in the first place!

Useful resource nonetheless.

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I found someones lloyds debit card in a parking meter, handed it into the lloyds in town as the police station was not interested and they suggested that.

Cashier said thanks and they will send a new card to the holder and tell them someone handed it in.

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Yeah, you did the right thing. Some of my bank cards have printed on the back to return to a branch or contact the bank. Neither Monzo nor Starling has this on the back of their cards.

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Greater Manchester Police still accept lost property found in a public space, even bank cards. They say to contact the card authority first but to say police don’t take it can be misleading. Not recording it isn’t the same as not accepting it and trying to find the owner.

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https://www.gmp.police.uk/ro/report/lp/lost-or-found-property/found-bank-ID-card-or-personal-doc/?lid=&cid=&rid=12297&stepid=1-2-2-1-2

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Nobody was willing to help @markgengine at the time but now everyone is an expert! :joy:

Would be great if you could research all 43 England and Wales police forces and post results here. Thanks :+1:

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That’s not really fair. A good number of people provided them with sound advice. A few people advised them to report it to Monzo:

You yourself then echo this advice in your opening post:

The issue was, the OP in the other thread you reference was insisting on reuniting it with the owner via unconventional means, and people tried to adapt their advice to suit. That user quite clearly wasn’t open to any suggestion other than finding a way to put them in contact with the wallet (containing a significant amount of cash) owner directly.

Noting that it’s a wallet containing cash here is quite important, because it brings us to the resource I shared earlier:

This means the police would have accepted the wallet and processed it accordingly. So the other advice they received from a good number of other folks to hand the wallet into the police is also acceptable.

As is evident here, a lot of people tried to help, and offered objectively good advice and provided the correct etiquette to follow. Even your own personal advice shared in this thread was provided to that user in their thread already.

People helped. And they’re not all of a sudden experts now. I presume they merely read what you posted and decided to check with their local constabulary from the looks of things, like I did for Scotland.

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My point is that the subheading:

Police No Longer Record Lost Property

is not an accurate subheading for “the police” within the United Kingdom accepting lost property as the UK is not one sole police force. A simple search of my local police proved I could hand in a bank card. My point that it is misleading is because someone reading your post may not check with their local force believing it was a national policy of all police forces based on your wording, especially when you stated:

This national move […]

I am no expert and sorry if you felt offended by my post.

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As I said, they have 43 different solutions to every problem …even when the national policy has been set. :face_with_raised_eyebrow:

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The important thing here is that there was a wallet, ID cards and cash. There’s no way Monzo could have shared the finders details with the customer, because any number of things could have gone wrong.

The police obviously can’t accept a lost umbrella; to suggest they will not take lost money/ wallets/ I.D. is something I personally have never heard of.

Below are the options I choose to report a lost bank card to the met police - as expected, it says it can be handed in.

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Well @anon70107404, unless I’m very much mistaken, you’re in Pulitzer country with this work of yours. Nicely done.

Now do you have be any idea where my stamp album is, please?

I left it on the top deck of the No 20 (Aldershot to Guildford) bus.

(It was a Saturday morning - summer, as I recall - 1973).

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Times like this I wish you could upload videos here. Thanks for checking and documenting though.

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Saying this applies UK wide is incorrect my lost keys were handed in to Police Scotland earlier in the year and I was able to collect them from them.

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