MISSION

HOW DO AUSTRALIANS MISPLACE MILLIONS OF DOLLARS EVERY YEAR?

Every day, people and businesses leave cash in financial institutions, insurance companies, and with government authorities. It’s human nature to forget and even the best kept records can even have gaps. As absurd as it sounds, it happens constantly. It is estimated that 1 in 3 Australians actually have money owing to them without their knowledge. Sometimes it can be as simple as​

WHAT IS LOST AND UNCLAIMED MONEY?

Individuals and companies occasionally lose track of the money they own, for example, bank accounts, shares, investments and life insurance policies. This may happen because of a change of address, a change of name, a change of employer, a move overseas and, sometimes, just plain oversight. Where this happens, and the financial institution or previous authority is unable to locate the owner of the money, the money is considered “lost”. In most cases, lost money is transferred to a Government trust account and remains there while it is “unclaimed”. What may interest you is that, if owners of this money do not step forward, this money is then taken up as Government revenue. In most cases this is the inevitable fate for lost money unless the correct owner steps forward to claim their lost money.

What makes this process even more difficult is that each State in Australia has separate laws relating to lost funds and various institutions responsible for lost monies unique to that State (with their own set of individual claiming rules and procedures). This can make this process very difficult as small mistakes can lead to a much more difficult return process later and may require months of assistance in order to complete the claim. Therefore, it’s always better to make sure that your claim is done right the first time.

However, some areas we commonly deal with are unpresented cheques, dormant bank accounts, superannuation, company takeovers, rental and local council bonds, the list is endless.​

That’s a simple answer; the funds will stay (in many cases) in a non – interest bearing account and in essence will remain unclaimed. Worst of all though, depending on what authority holds the funds, each is different, after a certain period the unclaimed fund will be absorbed into the endless pit of ‘consolidated Government Revenue’.  In other words … the Government gets its, and it’s GONE!!!!.

Once the funds are released, we forward the refunded monies normally within 6 to 8 weeks of receiving all the correct claim documentation.

As refund consultants, we take it upon ourselves to reach out, assist and work with people with lost money owing to them. We have reached out to you because we believe you may have lost funds owing to you. In most cases, people are unaware that these funds are laying in wait to be claimed so it’s often a nice surprise for people to find out that money could be owing to them without their knowledge.

When a person or company “forgets” about money in various accounts, the lost money is transferred to (in many cases) a non-interest bearing Government Trust Account. Of course, this is only done when the financial Institution or previous authority cannot locate the owner. What may interest you, is that if owners of this money do not step forward within a specific length of time, this money is then absorbed as government revenue and can be far more difficult to claim. In most cases this is the inevitable fate for lost funds unless the correct owner steps forward to claim their lost money.

What makes this process even more difficult, is that each state in Australia has separate laws relating to lost funds and various institutions responsible for lost monies unique to that state (with their own set of individual claiming rules and procedures). This alone can make this process very difficult as small mistakes can lead to a much more difficult return process later and may require months of assistance in order to complete the claim. Thus, it’s always better to make sure that your claim is done right the first time.

UNCLAIMED MONEY ASSOCIATION