How life insurance companies and benefit fund friendly societies lodge unclaimed money claims
When a consumer finds that they are entitled to unclaimed money provided to ASIC by a life insurance company or a benefit fund friendly society (life company/friendly society), they should contact the life company/friendly society to begin their claim. When the life company/friendly society is satisfied that the person is entitled to the unclaimed money, the life company/friendly society will make a claim to ASIC on behalf of the entitled person. The Life Insurance Act 1995 requires ASIC to pay the money to the life company/friendly society, which must then pay the entitled person.
The information provided on this page is to assist life companies/friendly societies to make a claim to ASIC.
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How a life company/friendly society lodges a claim
For all claims being requested for return, the life company/friendly society must verify the identity of each claimant in accordance with your customer due diligence obligations, including under the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act 2006, as applicable. The life company/friendly society must ensure that identification and entitlement for each claimant listed in the csv have been satisfactorily verified before you lodge an unclaimed money claim to ASIC.
As a life company/friendly society, you can lodge your claim by:
Upon receiving the claim, providing the CSV claim form is in the required format, it will be processed and the funds returned to the life company/friendly society.
CSV claim form
A CSV claim form is an Excel spreadsheet and contains:
Header record: Where the life company’s/friendly society’s information is entered (row 1).
Detail record/s: Where the unclaimed money record is entered (rows 2, 3, etc).
Original Transaction Numbers (OTN): A unique number to identify the unclaimed money record. Each Detail record must have an OTN and these can be located by searching for the unclaimed money record on MoneySmart.
To make an Excel spreadsheet into a CSV claim form you will need to save it as a comma delimited file format (.csv). To do this, use ‘save as’ to change the spreadsheet type to .csv.
The CSV claim form has a specific format that must be complied with for ASIC’s system to receive and process the claim. Our downloadable guide to the CSV claim form includes the information to be included and the required format.
Download the Guide to the Life Insurance Act claims form (PDF)
It is advisable to check that your CSV claim form:
- has a Header record
- has correct totals in the Header record
- includes Original Transaction Numbers for all Detail records
- has the policy number
- has names in the correct columns for the life insured and the policy owner; and
- includes the date the policy became due.
Lodging the CSV claim form
Once you have completed your CSV return form you can lodge it through the MOVEit platform. If this is your first time lodging through the platform, contact unclaimed.money@asic.gov.au to set-up a lodgement account. Lodging your CSV return form via the platform supports secure and effective transmission of your return to ASIC.
Your lodgement must also include a signed Statement of Compliance confirming that the funds meet the requirements of the legislative section under which the lodgement is being made. Download a copy of the Statement of Compliance – S216 Life Insurance Act.
Receiving payment of the claim
If you have previously provided us with bank account details, the payment will be forwarded by electronic fund transfer to that account and you will be notified. If we do not have your account details, a cheque will be posted to your contact address.
If you would like to provide us with your bank account details, please request an EFT details notification form by emailing unclaimed.money@asic.gov.au.
Receiving payment of the claim
If you have previously provided us with bank account details, the payment will be forwarded by electronic fund transfer to that account and you will be notified. If we do not have your account details, a cheque will be posted to your contact address.
If you would like to provide us with your bank account details, please request an EFT details notification form by emailing unclaimed.money@asic.gov.au.
Payment of interest on claims
From 1 July 2013 when unclaimed money is paid to a claimant, the Commonwealth of Australia will also pay interest. Both the original amounts and the interest must be paid to the claimant.
A detailed payment summary will be provided within 5 working days of the payment to assist in identifying the original and interest amounts.
The amount of interest and the method of calculating the interest is determined by Regulations.
An example of an interest calculation is available on the Moneysmart website.
Contact us
Contact the Unclaimed Money Unit:
by phone: 1300 300 630
by email: unclaimed.money@asic.gov.au
Postal address:
Unclaimed Money Unit
Australian Securities & Investments Commission
GPO Box 9827
Melbourne VIC 3001