Find out if we may be holding your unclaimed money and how to claim it.
Who sends us the money
Unclaimed money is money that a bank, insurer or other organisation holds for customers as part of its normal business. If the organisation has had no contact with the customer for 5 years and has not been able to return the money during that time, the money becomes unclaimed money and is transferred to us.
A person or organisation can transfer unclaimed money to us, Public Trust or Treasury.
Money we manage
We are responsible for managing unclaimed money under the Unclaimed Money Act 1971. Some examples are:
- deposits in banks and financial institutions
- money in solicitors’ trust accounts
- unpaid wages and employee benefits (including unpaid holiday pay)
- proceeds of life insurance policies.
Money we do not manage
Some types of money are not considered unclaimed under the Act and are managed by Treasury. These include:
- any unclaimed money covered by the Public Finance Act 1989
- bona vacantia or ownerless money
- other types of property such as cryptocurrencies.
Who holds the unclaimed money
Most of the time the organisation you dealt with is the same organisation that sends us the money, but you may have known it by a different name.
Here are some examples.
- A legal firm’s partnership makeup has changed – you may have known them as ABC Lawyers and now they are ACG Lawyers.
- A business has merged with another – you may have dealt with a company that went through a merger, and the new company name is listed.
- A business or franchise will show under the name we hold for them, which may not be the trade name you are familiar with.
Once the money has been passed to us, it is published in our searchable list.
You can find out more about holders of unclaimed money.
20-year limit
We hold unclaimed money for 20 years. If no one has claimed the money after this time, it is removed from the list and no further claims can be made.
Unclaimed money is not tax
Unclaimed money is not income tax refunds or any other unpaid tax refunds.
Watch out for scammers
Scammers may contact you and say you have unclaimed money waiting to be claimed. If you think you have been the target of a scam, we have advice about what to do.
How to claim
You can claim your unclaimed money in myIR.