What is a reasonable amount of money to hand in at a police station?

[Frogme]

£5, £10, £20, £50, over £100?

I don't think I'd bother going to a police station for £20 or less in just cash as I don't think most people would bother to check for that small amount. It gets a bit greyer between this and £50, purely because it would be a faff for me to take it there, but I think maybe the guilt would make me do it. Easy decision over £50.

I suspect mumsnetters will say anything should be handed in, but is anyone prepared to say differently?

My stepmum handed money into the police station once, they said if it wasn't claimed she could collect it & gave her a date.
She planned to donate it to a hospice she does a lot of work for so returned on the date, it hadn't been collected so they asked her to return the next day & they'd give her it.
She was busy so went back 4 days later, was told because she hadn't collected it the following day it had been put in the fund for their Xmas night out(!)
Really put me off handing money to the police tbh, I'd probably hand it in where I found it or advertise on fb that I'd found it if it was a wallet or something.

My grandmother would hand any amount in however small (and did get it back when it was unclaimed)

I would probably hand in £50. But I did find £20 on the ground next to a cashpoint and gave it to the local charity shop - I didn't feel comfortable keeping it but couldn't be arsed to find a police station.

if it was just a loose note, not in a wallet etc? just one loose note would have to be pretty high value (i'd assume a 50 was a fake ) for me to bother handing it in, if i found it in the street. if i found it in a building i might report it to reception if they seemed trustworthy.
a bunch of notes i would try to find their owner, although i dont know if i would trust the police with it

I found £20 on the floor in Sainsburys and handed it in at the customer service desk. They said if it wasn't claimed within 28 days I could have it.

I go in there every day to buy lunch at work. I remembered it about four weeks later and asked at the desk, it hadn't been claimed but they said it had only been 27 days.

So I asked the next day, they said it had been claimed that day Course it fucking had

I'd always hand money in if I found it, even if it was a fiver.

BTW I was going to give the £20 to the Blue Cross, gave it anyway but I struggle to believe someone who dropped £20 near the electrical beauty section of Sainbos remembered it all of a sudden nearly four weeks later

My DH found £5 at the tip today! Kept it, because, he said, who would go back to the tip for a fiver? If you figured out where you'd lost it, you'd assume it'd gone in one of the skips!
I think he'd have handed it in if it'd been a £20.

Snoop that would never happen these days.

My older sister lost £30 once and couldn't eat or heat her house for nearly 2 days, no matter how small someone could need that money so i would hand it in

I remember hearing that £100 or over is legally required to be handed to the police?

I keep coins hand in notes.

£5 to me is nothing, but to some it's a huge amount to loose.

leviticus it was only a few years ago so I'm not convinced anything will have changed, though I'd imagine it'd be down to the individuals involved and not a police policy iyswim!

Depends where it was. In the street I'd give it to the police if it was 30 or more but in a shop I think I'd hand in whatever I found, however little the amount.

What piper said.
to those whove not handed in 20 quid, Would you forgive yourself if that was all of a mothers money and she had to feed her kids and heat her house on just 20 quid, then the 20 quid was gone? I know I never would

It depends, if it happened where I live, where the nearest police stations are 15 and 20 miles away in each direction, I wouldn't hand it in, since it's highly unlikely anyone would expect it to be in one of them.

I would probably hand it in to shop/pub nearby as they are trustworthy and would be likely to hear about it if someone had lost it nearby and return it (very small place, everybody knows and talks to everyone).

Failing that, I'd hold onto it for a week or so, and if I did not hear of anyone having lost money (again, I have everyone nearby on facebook or speak to them regularly so would hear someone complaining about having dropped it) I would donate it to our local charity.

Of course if it was a very large amount Inwould hand it into the police regardless- my old boss did so and received the cash back after it was not claimed and yes, it paid for our Christmas night out that year.

The £20 I picked up and gave to the charity shop was blowing about on the pavement - I looked to see if there was anyone around and there wasn't. The nearest police station was about 30 mins walk away - i can't see someone going in there on the off chance that it had been handed in.

The bank was shut so I couldn't hand it in there. If it had been more or in a wallet I would have handed it in but Blackout I think you are being a bit unrealistic - did your sister go to the police station to see if someone had found her money?

I'd have double standards I think.

For me - anything £20 or over I'd take to the police. £10 or under (I'm thinking you can't really find anything between £10 and £20) I would hand in to a shop if I found it there/near it but if it was just randomly in the street I'd keep it.

However - if my children find anything, however small (well, over 10p, I'm not crazy enough to worry about coppers!), it gets handed in to somebody because I want to teach them the principles of right and wrong. They can get old, corrupt and cynical later!

"If you choose to hand it in then you will be given a form that entitles you to collect the property if it is not claimed within 28 days (except mobile phones and any other unsuitable objects)."
From www.askthe.police.uk/content/Q245.htm?letter=F

I'd hand anything over £5 in on the basis that, for some people, that's the difference between eating and not eating. If they don't claim it, fine, I'll be entitled to take it back. Anything between £1 and £5 gets given to charity. Below that, I leave it where it is.

Just cash in the street - would keep any amount. Wallet would hand in regardless of the amount.

Good question. The problem is does anyone who loses £20 think of going to a police station?

I've never found money so not had to consider this but "finders keepers" isn't right legally or morally.

I rarely have more cash on me than £50, usually less. I've lost the odd £10/£20 but it never occurred to me to report it lost.

Id probably keep £20 or less but hand in anymore. I would hand in less money or a wallet if it was in a store or similar where there was someone to hand it in to. If I didn't trust them I would keep the money.

Has anyone dropped money and then ever claimed it back from a police station? How could you prove whose was whose? What stops people going into a police station and asking if any money was handed in and getting a free handout? I would always always hand in a wallet, phone etc and possessions because it's identifiable. Money flying around, not so much.

Yeah I get that, but lots of times if I've lost something, I wouldn't have a clue where I'd lost it. So I couldn't go into a station and name the street I lost it on. That was my thinking.

Not really relevant but I once found some keys in the park and handed them in at the police station - the police officer had to fill out a huge form which included the question of whether I wanted them if nobody claimed them within 28 days... They were someone's house and car keys FGS