Australia’s Unclaimed Riches Now At $636 Million

There is a notion going around that Australia is a money-obsessed society. This may not be true at all. One may not even go as far as thinking it is a possibility once the numbers start talking. The figures are simple and totally self-explanatory.

There is a lot of unclaimed money in Australia, some not even the least obvious, others one may not even think exists. The most common of them all has to be savings and checking accounts particularly untouched accounts for almost seven years. There are accounts that have not had any activity or transaction for quite a while now. People who move without leaving a forwarding address end up adding to the numbers of unclaimed cash in the country.

Australians not even bothering to collect what is theirs is responsible for this figure – $636 million. This figure includes individuals who are no longer making payments on a life insurance policy, executors of deceased estates and individuals who have observed regular dividend or interest cheques no longer arriving.

One of the largest unclaimed parcels is $992,750 in an individual’s account in a bank in Perth. Another is $718,151 owned by a “Lost Shareholder” based in Melbourne of AWB Ltd., a grain seller. Last year it was already taken over.

In the Australian Securities & Investments Commission, also known as ASIC, the database show 975,231 cash parcels. With these numbers any Australian could be a beneficiary entitled to one.

“There is more money in the unclaimed money pool than ever before, so even if you’ve already searched, you should look again,” Delia Rickard of ASIC said. In her statement she also added that individuals can do a search for any unclaimed money that may belong to them with the help of MoneySmart, an ASIC website. Last year alone Aussies recovered $62 million and the average parcel value was $652.

It is not surprising Australia has a lot of unclaimed money. For one thing, not every individual leaves a forwarding address when transferring or moving out. Some move within the city, some to a different state, others even outside the country. There are a lot of unclosed bank accounts too. Individually the amounts they contain may not be significan’t but collectively the numbers are staggering. The number of active stagnant accounts does not come as a surprise as well since it is a common practice for the account holder to leave the account as soon as there is not much left or if the remaining amount can no longer be withdrawn.

Money-obsessed is definitely not the correct term to use. Australia having a lot of unclaimed money is absolute proof already. Individuals should check out that Australian Securities & Investments Commission website called MoneySmart. There is no harm in trying, as they always say. In the end, one may be the fortunate beneficiary of one of those money parcels regardless the amount and all that one had to do was search.