Australians may have a Christmas present waiting for them in the form of unclaimed money.
More than $582 million worth of unclaimed money is waiting to be collected by over a million Australians, according to statistics released by the NSW state revenue.
Much of the unclaimed funds come from uncashed cheques and payments, unclaimed refunds, share dividends, superannuation and trust account funds.
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So what is unclaimed money?
Money is deemed unclaimed when the person it belongs to can’t be located.
Unclaimed money can be owed to a person, organisation or a company. This can also include deceased estates.
The money is held by the state revenue, waiting, sometimes for years, to be claimed.
Why would someone not claim their money?
Simply put, many people don’t know they have unclaimed money.
It may have been a forgotten payment, or state revenue may not be able to find the person due to a change in name or address.
The Queensland Public Trustee says unclaimed money held by banks, credit unions, building societies and friendly societies, as well as unclaimed life insurance policies, money belonging to deregistered companies and unclaimed money from compulsory share acquisitions are held at a federal level.
This can be found through the Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC).
How do I know if I have unclaimed money?
Aussies can do a simple online check to see if you are owed any unclaimed cash.
Head over to your state revenue site and search for unclaimed money, if you have moved states or territories, remember to check previous addresses.
Unclaimed money by state
There are currently 1,482,779 unclaimed items, with an average worth of over $11,000.
- NSW: $233,042,440
- VIC: $62,421,141
- QLD: $47,693,029
- WA: $27,125,131
- SA: $14,691,299
- ACT: $6,875,085
- TAS: $3,720,693
- NT: $2,342,312
- Other: $184,612,549
