Do you have a share in the more than $220 million held in unclaimed bank accounts? Ahoy shipmates - searching for this lost treasure has never been easier.
Read more to find out how.
Unclaimed bank, credit union and building society accounts are now administered by one federal agency, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC).
If there has been no account activity for the past seven years, under this administration arrangement banks are required to register accounts as unclaimed and turn the proceeds over to consolidated revenue.
Each year ASIC publishes a list of unclaimed accounts in which more than $500 is held.
At last count there were 167,080 unclaimed accounts.
That's a lot of people who have money they don't know about! How do you find your long lost loot? A search facility is on the ASIC consumer website at www.
fido.
gov.
au.
Click on unclaimed money in the right-hand panel.
If you believe you have identified an old account belonging to you, you must lodge a claim with the institution holding your account.
The bank must verify your identity and match you with the account.
If the bank is no longer in existence, ASIC has the responsibility to carry out this identity check.
The identity check is similar to a 100-point check using passport, bank accounts, drivers licence, you know the drill.
There is generally no fee charged by the banks for this service, but account-keeping fees may have been deducted during the life of the account.
What are you waiting for?? Go get your money back!