Clients you can't reach: a routine for lost contact and quiet accounts
When a client stops responding, a small RIA should try more than one contact method over a set period, check the details on file for changes, reach the trusted contact if one is named and the client allowed it, and record every attempt with its date. Tell the custodian if mail is returned. Accounts with no client contact for long enough can fall under state unclaimed property rules, so it pays to act early. Keep billing and trading decisions on those accounts under review.
An older client's quarterly review invite goes unanswered. So does the follow-up. A statement comes back marked "return to sender". The advisor means to chase it and doesn't. A year later the account is still being billed and traded, and nobody has spoken to the person who owns it. Most of these turn out to be a new phone number or a move. A few don't.
The routine
- Notice early: a missed review, returned mail, a bounced email, an unanswered call.
- Check the details on file: any recent change you missed, a second number, a spouse or joint owner.
- Try more than one method: phone, email and a letter, over a set period.
- Use the trusted contact if one is named and the client agreed to that kind of contact.
- Tell the custodian about returned mail, through its process.
- Record every attempt, with the date, the method and the result.
- Flag the account for review of billing and any planned trades.
What should the record show?
| Item | Example |
|---|---|
| First sign | Returned statement, 3 March |
| Attempts | Call 5 March, email 12 March, letter 20 March |
| Trusted contact | Daughter contacted 2 April, with the client's earlier consent |
| Outcome | Client moved; new address confirmed by phone |
A worked example
Take a hypothetical two-person RIA that checks for quiet accounts every quarter. It finds four households with no contact in over a year. Two have new phone numbers, found through the joint owner. One client had moved into care, and the trusted contact helps set up a review. The fourth can't be reached after three attempts; the firm notes each one, tells the custodian about the returned mail, and asks its compliance consultant about billing and trading on that account.
What are the common gaps?
- Returned mail filed away with no follow-up.
- One attempt, then nothing.
- No record of the attempts that were made.
- No trusted contact on file to begin with.
When is this overkill?
If you speak to every client every quarter, a quiet account will stand out on its own. The routine matters more as the client list grows.
How Advorra fits
Advorra keeps communications on each client's record with their household and accounts, so contact attempts and their dates sit with the client, and a long gap is easy to see. See the product page, or read about keeping client details current and concerns about an older client.
One thing to do this week: list any household you haven't spoken to in over a year.
An operations routine, not legal or compliance advice. Unclaimed property rules vary by state.
Questions advisors ask
How many attempts should we make?
Set a number in your procedures, for example three attempts by different methods over 60 days, then follow it every time.
Can we contact the trusted contact?
If the client named one and agreed to that kind of contact, yes, within the limits of what they agreed.
What is escheatment?
When property is treated as abandoned under state unclaimed property rules and turned over to the state. Custodians generally handle the reporting, but the firm's contact record helps show the account was not abandoned.
Should we keep billing an account we can't reach?
Review it. Your agreement and your compliance consultant can guide what to do.
Is this legal advice?
No. It is an operations routine.
See it on a demo firm
Advorra is practice software for independent RIAs: clients, models, IPS, billing and compliance records in one place, on top of the custodian you already use. Built by The CollabHub.
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