Donate your unclaimed settlement

As a team of lawyers, we know the pain of dealing with unclaimed settlements. Reconciling your accounts when you have dormant funds can be time-consuming and create a lot of admin work.

Did you know you can donate your unclaimed settlements to ClientEarth UK and help support our legal work to protect people and planet?

Learn more about what we do

How to donate unclaimed settlements

The SRA permits companies to withdraw residual client balances and donate them to a charity of their choice. The rules differ depending on the amount of the gift. We have sufficient evidence in place to confirm that funds, if reclaimed, will be refunded to the claimants.

Donating settlements of £500 or under

You may withdraw unclaimed settlements of £500 or less as long as:

You’ve made reasonable attempts to establish the identity of the rightful owner of the money and return the money to them
You keep a record of the steps you’ve taken to return the money
You keep a central register which includes the details of the rightful owner, the amount, the recipient charity, date of payment and a receipt from the charity.

Additional information and guidance can be found on the SRA website.

Donating settlements over £500

If you have an unclaimed settlement of over £500, you will need to apply for authorisation from the SRA before you can donate the money.

You will need to complete the SRA’s application form outlining:

The steps you have taken to establish the identity of the rightful owner of the money and return the money to them.
The costs involved in making further enquiries
The proposed use of the funds

Download the application form on their website.

Additional information and guidance can be found on the SRA website.