If you have ever changed your job, name or address or held a second job that paid superannuation then it’s possible that you have some lost or unclaimed super that you are not even aware of.
It is also possible that some of these inactive or lost accounts are likely to have insurance cover.
Previously, super funds that held small amounts of super in inactive accounts transferred those super monies to Ausfund (Australia’s unclaimed super fund) where it was held until it was claimed.
Since 1 July 2014, ‘lost’ super accounts which had a balance of less than $2,000.00 and had not received a contribution for at least 12 months were transferred to the ATO. Since 1 January 2016, a lost inactive super account holding less than $4,000.00 was sent to the ATO as unclaimed super. Now, as a result of the new legislation that came in on 1 January 2017 the account threshold increases and any lost inactive super account holding less than $6,000.00 is transferred to the ATO.
Superfunds however, are not required to transfer these accounts until April 2017. There is some time for you to claim any lost or unclaimed super.
The upside to this is that you can expect no fees or charges to be imposed and interest to be paid when you make a claim for lost or unclaimed super held by the ATO. Interest is paid by the government at a rate equivalent to CPI which is currently 1.3%.
Lost super can be found through the myGov service (www.my.gov.au). You will be required to open an account and insert detailed information to enable you to access to the ATO website to view all your superannuation accounts. You will be able to view any lost and unclaimed super and combine multiple super accounts by transferring your super to your existing super fund.
Depending on your circumstances, you may be able to make a direct claim for payment.
We urge you to search the myGov service for lost super. By acting now you may be able to make a direct claim or preserve the benefits offered by the super fund (for example insurance) from being lost.
You can also search for other unclaimed money such as forgotten bank accounts, shares, life insurance policies and investments through the Australian Securities and Investments Commission’s Unclaimed Money Search (www.moneysmart.gov.au).
