Around £76million from lost and dormant bank accounts is to be released to help those struggling with the cost of living.
The cash will be used to support people to get out of debt and help with energy-saving initiatives, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport said today.
The cash will be collected through the Dormant Assets Scheme, which unlocks money from forgotten bank and building society accounts when it is not possible to reunite people with their lost money.
Projects that will benefit from the extra cash includes a project by Fair4all Finance which provides £45million worth of no-interest loans to 69,000 people struggling with their finances.
Hundreds of charities and social enterprises will also receive support from a pot of £31million, distributed by social investors Access and Big Society Capital.
This will be used to retrofit premises with more efficient energy systems, such as new boilers or heat pumps, solar panels, and new lighting.
Last year it was announced that the Dormant Assets Scheme will soon be able to access "dormant cash" from the insurance, pensions, investment and wealth management, and securities sectors.
An estimated £738million more will be made available over time with the expansion of the scheme.
The Government has also announced that community wealth funds will become an additional beneficiary of the Dormant Assets Scheme.
This is a pot of money distributed to communities in deprived areas and released over a long time period, with local residents empowered to make decisions on how to use the money.
What are "lost" assets?
A dormant asset is a financial product - such as a bank account - that someone has not used for many years, so it in effect becomes lost or forgotten.
In order for this product to be accessed through the Dormant Assets Scheme, your provider - so the bank - must have tried to contact you about your funds.
There are other things classed as "lost asset" but currently do not come under the scope of the scheme just yet.
These can include pensions, insurance and investments.
According to the MoneySavingExpert website, there could be as much as £50billion in lost assets in the UK.
Things like this usually get lost if you have moved house, or changed your phone number and do not update your details with where your money is kept.
You should be aware that even if your account has been marked inactive for several years, the money in it is still yours and you are entitled to claim it at any time.
How to reclaim your lost cash
If you are looking for a lost bank or building society account, or Premium Bonds, then you can find them through the My Lost Account service.
This service is a joint venture by the British Bankers’ Association, the Building Societies Association and the National Savings and Investments (NS&I).
All you need to do is fill out a form on the My Lost Account service website, where you will need to fill in details about the account you're looking for.
After that, you will have to wait for around three months for a bank or building society to respond, while NS&I aim to respond within a month.
If you have a private pension from a workplace, you should first look through old paperwork or contact the HR department at your old employer.
If that doesn't work you can try the Pension Tracing Service tool, which has details of more than 200,000 different pension schemes and will help you find an up-to-date contact address for you.
For investments, companies are constantly evolving with mergers, takeovers or rebranding, which makes it difficult to keep track of your investments.
For investments, you will need to contact companies directly as they keep records of all their shareholders and dividends.
For insurance plans, you can approach the company directly or you can contact the Association of British Insurers for up-to-date contact information for life insurance companies.
