Unclaimed life insurance money totals $65 million

The unclaimed insurance policy money is part of a larger pool of $1.2 billion in unclaimed cash.

ASIC’s comments follow calls from Assistant Treasurer Kelly O’Dwyer for Australians to check if a share of the pool of unclaimed money is theirs.

ASIC deputy chairman Peter Kell said there are more than a million records of unclaimed money from dormant bank accounts, life insurance, shares and other investments waiting to be claimed.

However, he added that unclaimed money from life insurance policies with insurance companies or friendly societies will remain on hold for up to seven years after the policy matures.

“Unclaimed money is transferred to the Commonwealth after it’s been unclaimed usually for seven years,” Mr Kell explained.

“The unclaimed money is managed by ASIC; it’s always claimable by the rightful owner and there’s no time limit on claims," he added.

“Last financial year, over $158 million was paid out to more than 25,000 people.”

Around $403 million of dormant money exists from unclaimed accounts, while around $299 million is unclaimed in shares and other investments, ASIC said.

ASIC’s unclaimed money online search database goes back to 1952 for life insurance companies and back to 2000 for friendly societies.

Adrian Flores

Adrian Flores is a deputy editor at Momentum Media, focusing mainly on banking, wealth management and financial services. He has also written for Public Accountant, Accountants Daily and The CEO Magazine.

You can contact him on [email protected].