More than £8.5m in cash from companies in Scotland that have become insolvent has remained unclaimed by creditors, according to the latest report from the office of the Accountant in Bankruptcy.

More than £8.5m in cash from companies in Scotland that have become insolvent has remained unclaimed by creditors, according to the latest report from the office of the Accountant in Bankruptcy.

The report, which covers the period between January 1, 2002, and December 31, 2006, also reveals that this latest unclaimed figure is more than £3m up on the previous year's total.

Matt Henderson, a business recovery and insolvency specialist with accounting firm Johnston Carmichael, said: "This is £8.5m which remains unclaimed and which should be in the hands of creditors rather than sitting in a bank account.

"These are funds which represent unclaimed funds or unapplied balances once a trustee in bankruptcy has concluded a sequestration."

In 2006, the last full year for which figures are available, there were 4730 sequestrations for which the Accountant in Bankruptcy was appointed interim trustee.

Nonetheless, there was a sharp drop in Scottish corporate insolvencies in the third quarter of 2007. Only 141 firms went into liquidation, receivership or administration, against 178 in the same quarter last year, and 181 in the second quarter of 2007.

However, bankruptcy levels in the latest quarter have risen slightly in Scotland - including both personal and corporate insolvencies. Figures published by the government's Insolvency Service last month revealed a 1.1% increase in the number of Scots sequestered in the third quarter of 2007, compared with the same period last year.

Under the legislation, when a trustee has made a final division of a debtor's estate, current Scottish bankruptcy laws require that any unapplied balances and unclaimed dividends are deposited in an appropriate bank or institution in the name of the Accoun- tant in Bankruptcy. The accountant then holds these deposits for a period of seven years, after which they must be surrendered to the Exchequer.

However, anyone entitled to receive sums consigned as unclaimed dividends is able to claim them from the accountant at any time, whether it is during or after this seven-year period.