Unclaimed Super

Posted on 17. Sep, 2011 by admin in Superannuation

An amount payable to a member of a super fund is taken to be unclaimed super when the money can be withdrawn from the fund due to eligibility requirements but the super fund has been unable to contact the member. Note: this is different to lost super where members lose track of their super funds due to change of employment and address.

Superannuation funds are required to report and pay unclaimed super to the ATO twice a year.

Unclaimed super includes money transferred to the ATO by funds on behalf of individuals when they are one of:

• over 65 years of age, have not made any contributions for 2 years and have been uncontactable by their fund for 5 years.
• deceased and the fund has been unable to contact the rightful owner
• temporary residents whose visa expired and have left Australia more than 6 months ago
• a member’s spouse who is entitled to a portion of the member’s benefit as part of a divorce settlements, and the fund has been unable to contact the member’s spouse

From July 2010, lost super under the following criteria is also reported and paid to the ATO as unclaimed super:

• lost accounts with balances of less than $200
• lost accounts that have been inactive for 5 years where the fund has been unable to contact the member (ie. their contact details are no longer valid)

The ATO keeps track of unclaimed and lost super via the lost members register (LMR), which holds lost member records from all regulated super funds in Australia, other than self-managed super funds.

The LMR can be queried via the ATO’s SuperSeeker service. When SuperSeeker finds a match with the LMR, it will return the account details and contact details of the relevant super fund. Claim forms are available for any amounts that have already been paid to the ATO.

The SuperSeeker service can been accessed:

• Online via superseeker.super.ato.gov.au
• By phone 132865.
• By post by downloading this ATO form

Tags: super, superannuation, unclaimed super