Around one in fourteen NSW residents could be eligible to claim a share in more than $220 million of unclaimed money from the NSW Office of State Revenue (OSR).
The OSR holds unclaimed money from deceased estates, dividends, bonds, refunds, overpayments and a range of other sources, with more than 530,000 items valued at over $220 million currently held in a dedicated trust account and waiting collection.
Minister for Finance, Services and Property Dominic Perrottet said checking the OSR website for unclaimed amounts was quick, free and easy, with OSR paying around 9,000 claims worth almost $17.5 million in the last 12 months.
“In 2016, one claimant was reunited with $428,000, but there are still lots of people out there who could be in line for a windfall to start the year,” Mr Perrottet said.
“If it’s your money, we want to reunite you with it, and doing a free search on OSR’s website couldn’t be easier. At this time of year every dollar counts, so it’s well worth jumping online to see if you have a New Year bonus waiting to be collected.”
The OSR website allows searchers to view the name of the unclaimed money owner, the type and source of funds and, if available, the owner’s last known address. Owners must prove their identity and entitlement to the money before it is released.
Items currently held by OSR range from $20 share dividends to $1.06 million from a deceased estate trust fund. Unclaimed funds are sent to OSR by private enterprises, government agencies, local councils, and State Trustees who have not been able to locate and return the money to the owners.
Mr Perrottet said the Government is looking at ways to reunite more people with their unclaimed money, with an in-store trial at Service NSW underway to show customers how to conduct a search.
“Unclaimed money ends up with OSR because the owners’ contact details are out of date and they’re hard to track down,” Mr Perrottet said.
“Showing customers how to conduct an easy search when they visit Service NSW could be a great way to get more unclaimed money back to more NSW citizens, and if our trial is successful, we’ll look at expanding it across the Service NSW network.”
For more information or to search for unclaimed money, visit www.osr.gov.au.