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Date Published : Friday, May 02, 2008
Financially, times are tough at the moment. High interest rates, even higher mortgage rates, an uncertain financial market and the impact of the global credit crunch have all combined to produce a rocky road.
Many Australians may understandably be feeling the pinch when it comes to those precious dollars in the pay packet. Savings accounts may well be running dry as food bills rocket.
However, despite all of this, it may seem surprising that Australian consumers have left almost $12.5 billion in defunct bank accounts, old super funds and even insurance policies.
According to the latest figures from the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), $11.9 billion has been left unclaimed in old super funds, having not been transferred when a better deal came along.
The ASIC figures show that an extra $30 million was added to the unclaimed total in bank accounts across the nation between November 2007 and April 2008, despite the affects of the global financial conditions starting to hit home.
In one case, $428,000 sits alone in an old HSBC bank account while, in another, someone has mislaid $105,000 of a life insurance policy.
For consumers worried that they may have contributed to the large quantity of money sitting in the Australian Tax Office's coffers, ASIC has announced that it has a dedicated team on hand to reunite lost money with its owners. The Financial Services Ombudsman is also a possible point of call.
Compare savings accounts.
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