Unclaimed benefits: How to find out if you have a share in R42bn pot (2024)

About 67% of beneficiaries who contacted the financial sector regulator about unclaimed benefits are set to receive more than R13.7-billion from the R42bn sitting unclaimed in retirement funds.

Corlia Buitendag, head of the retirement funds supervision department at the Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA), says to date almost 343,000 inquiries have been received from members of the public about unclaimed benefits. Of these 231,041 possible matches to the value of more than R13.6bn were made to the regulator’s database.

The database contains information of all active funds which hold unclaimed benefits as well as funds that were cancelled and which transferred the benefits to separate unclaimed benefits retirement funds.

Apart from searching the database electronically via the FSCA’s website, you can use the FSCA’s call centre, send an SMS and email or ask for a call back to make an inquiry, Buitendag says.

A benefit is considered unclaimed if the benefit has not been paid to, or claimed by a fund member within 24 months from the date it was due to the member.

“Unclaimed benefits” is a widespread issue in the local retirement fund industry with around R42bn due to approximately 4.7 million former fund members and beneficiaries.

Benefits are unclaimed or unpaid for various reasons, for instance, members do not provide the fund with their own updated contact details and the details of their beneficiaries. Other reasons include poor record keeping by funds or administrators or simply because fund members are uninformed about their withdrawal benefits if they resign, are dismissed or retrenched and how to claim their benefits.

In addition, prior to 2001, many funds that had built up a surplus had to formulate a surplus apportionment scheme that sets out how it will be allocated and former members may be unaware that they are entitled to a portion of that surplus.

If you were a member of one or more pension or provident funds during your working career, you may be due for a windfall. You may also be entitled to share in the surplus if you are a beneficiary of a family member that previously belonged to a retirement fund and who left their fund without receiving their full benefits.

But, bear in mind that you must have belonged to a retirement fund that is regulated by the Pension Funds Act. Funds which do not fall under the PFA include the Government Employees Pension Fund (GEPF); any funds that were created for current and retired employees of Transnet and its predecessor, the South African Railways and Harbours; the Telkom Pension Fund and the Post Office Pension Fund.

Your first port of call to locating any unclaimed benefits that may be due to you should be the fund or its current administrator, says Buitendag.

Sue du Plessis, portfolio head of complaints resolution at Momentum Employee Benefits, says all insurers have an unclaimed benefits division and their contact details are available on the internet.

If you were a member of a pension fund you can ask any insurer to check if there is an unclaimed benefit due to you, she says.

Most funds also use reputable tracing agencies to trace you if you have an unclaimed benefit. The tracing agency will send you the claim documentation and once they have all your documents they will send it to the fund/administrator. The fund will deduct a nominal fee off the value as a tracing fee. The fee varies depending on the insurer.

If you don’t know the name and contact details of the fund or its past or current administrator, you may be able to obtain this information from the FSCA. While the FSCA may be able to help you with information about your retirement fund, you must claim the benefits from your former fund or its administrator.

Buitendag says if the fund that you or your family member belonged to no longer exists, the date when the fund was cancelled is very important.

The FSCA ruled that as of 2007 retirement funds under its jurisdiction which had unclaimed benefits remaining in a deregistered fund, had to transfer these benefits to an unclaimed benefit fund.

However, your benefits may be lost forever because prior to the FSCA stepping in to enforce rule changes regarding unclaimed benefits, many retirement funds had rules that a member’s right to the benefit would lapse if it was unclaimed for a period of more than three years.

Regulator warns of unscrupulous agents

The FSCA has warned that there are many agents who want to make money out of supposedly helping you, as a former retirement fund member and your beneficiaries, claim your benefits.

These unauthorised agents either take a percentage of the amount of the benefit that is paid out or they request a processing fee for establishing whether a person has a benefit, Corlia Buitendag, head of the retirement funds supervision department at the Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA), says.

While it’s not illegal to help anyone trace their benefit, the FSCA has found that many unauthorised agents have no intention of assisting you or your beneficiaries. In other words, all they do is take the fee.

A pension or provident fund may contract with a company to trace former members or beneficiaries who have unclaimed benefits, but in such a case you will not be asked to pay any fees, although the fund may deduct a fee from the benefit.

This table, supplied by the FSCA, is designed to help you determine whether the person you’re dealing with has been authorised by the fund to find beneficiaries.

Unclaimed benefits: How to find out if you have a share in R42bn pot (2024)

FAQs

How do I check if I have surplus money? ›

You will have to contact your bargaining council, or your industry's retirement fund administrator, to find out if you have surplus funds due to you.

How do I know if I have unclaimed benefits? ›

If you do not know how to contact the fund, you can contact the Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA). The FSCA can provide you with the contact details of the pension or provident fund to enable you to claim unclaimed retirement fund benefits. Visit the FSCA's Unclaimed benefits page here or use its online search.

How do I find out my pension balance? ›

Check your defined benefit (final salary) pensions

If you belong to one, your pension provider will usually send you an annual benefit statement. If you don't receive a statement, you can ask for one. The statement shows how much pension you might get. It might assume that you take your tax-free cash lump sum.

How do I check my Alexander Forbes claim? ›

Tracking your claim

You can phone Alexander Forbes Call Centre to find out if your claim form has been received on 0860 100 333. Or you can contact your previous employer.

How do you check if you are a beneficiary? ›

Beneficiary of a Will

If you're not sure you were named as a beneficiary in someone's Will, check with the probate court in the county where the decedent lived. Since it is a public record, you can request to see the Will's filing. If you find your name as a beneficiary, contact the executor.

How can I claim my late father's money? ›

So if you were named as an heir or a beneficiary of your late father's pension or provident fund, and that fund is a member of ASISA, you should still be able to claim the money. But you would need to find out where the money is, and to do that, you would need to know the name of the fund your father belonged to.

How do I claim unclaimed amount? ›

Account holders must visit the branch where their account is kept and submit the Annexure-B, or "Claim Form," duly filled out and signed, along with the account's available information (passbook/statements of account, term deposit/special term deposit receipts or advices), recent photos, and valid Identity and address ...

Do pension benefits expire? ›

Key Takeaways. Pension payments are made for the rest of your life, no matter how long you live, and can possibly continue after death with your spouse.

Where do I apply for surplus money? ›

Phone Mibfa on 0861 50 44 55 or NUMSA on 011 689 1700. When claiming surplus a member is required to fill in a surplus application form attach a certified copy of identity document. If the member has died, beneficiaries are required to fill in a surplus application form.

What is the average pension payout per month? ›

Average Monthly Retirement Income

According to data from the BLS, average incomes in 2021 after taxes were as follows for older households: 65-74 years: $59,872 per year or $4,989 per month.

What is the average pension account balance? ›

Average Retirement Savings Balance by Age
AgeAverage Retirement Account Balance
35-44$131,950
45-54$254,720
55-64$408,420
65-74$426,070
Apr 27, 2023

How are pensions paid to beneficiaries? ›

The pension payout

How your beneficiary is paid depends on your plan. For example, some plans may pay out a single lump sum, while others will issue payments over a set period of time (such as five,10, or even 20 years), or an annuity with monthly lifetime payments.

How long does it take to get your money from Alexander Forbes? ›

Please refer this question to your own fund administrator - Alexander Forbes - for a specific answer. It usually takes between 4 and 12 weeks, to process a pay-out.

Can I cash out my pension fund? ›

You can only cash out your pension fund if you withdraw from the pension fund, in other words, when you resign or lose your job. Losing your job and retiring, however, are two different scenarios: If you retire, you can only cash out up to one-third, and the balance must be used to purchase an annuity.

Can I withdraw funds from Alexander Forbes? ›

* You can withdraw your full fund credit before you retire. If you withdraw only part of your fund credit, the balance must be transferred to another fund. You can't make additional contributions. withdrawal allows you to take all or part of your money in the preservation fund.

Will I be notified if I am a beneficiary in a will? ›

Will I be notified if I am in a Will? Yes, state probate laws require that any beneficiaries included in a Will are notified. This duty lands on the executor, who is responsible for managing the Will and filing for probate.

How can I find out if I was left in a will? ›

The firm that prepared the will often retain the original signed document, or may keep a record of where the original was sent. If you can't find a copy, then contacting the law firm that acted for the deceased is the best starting point.

Who is usually your beneficiary? ›

A primary beneficiary is the person (or persons) first in line to receive the death benefit from your life insurance policy — typically your spouse, children or other family members.

Do children inherit parents IRS debt? ›

Debts are not directly passed on to heirs in the United States, but if there is any money in your parent's estate, the IRS is the first one getting paid. So, while beneficiaries don't inherit unpaid tax bills, those bills, must be settled before any money is disbursed to beneficiaries from the estate.

Can I inherit my father's debt? ›

Do you inherit your parents' debt? If a parent dies, their debt doesn't necessarily transfer to their surviving spouse or children. The person's estate—the property they owned—is responsible for their remaining debt.

Can I cash my dad's check after he died? ›

The Check Belongs to the Estate Now

The first thing to understand is that the check belongs to the decedent's estate, not to you. As such, you'll need legal authority to cash or deposit the check. Typically, this requires being named as the executor or administrator of the estate.

What is unclaimed deposits for 10 years? ›

According to RBI's guidelines, balancies in savings and current accounts which are not operated for 10 years, or term deposits not claimed within 10 years from the date of maturity are classified as “Unclaimed Deposits".

What are unclaimed accounts? ›

Unclaimed deposits are deposits where the proceeds/maturity amount has not been claimed for a period of 10 years or more. In other words,term deposits are deemed unclaimed if they are inactive/inoperative for more than 10 years.

What is unclaimed amount? ›

With respect to life insurance policies, unclaimed amount refers to the amount of money that remains unpaid to the policyholders or beneficiaries in the form of survival claim, premium funds, maturity claim, death claim, indemnity claim, etc.

What happens to a pension when the person dies? ›

When a participant in a retirement plan dies, benefits the participant would have been entitled to are usually paid to the participant's designated beneficiary in a form provided by the terms of the plan (lump-sum distribution or an annuity).

When can you lose your pension? ›

A number of situations could put your pension at risk, including underfunding, mismanagement, bankruptcy, and legal exemptions. Laws exist to protect you in such circ*mstances, but some laws provide better protection than others.

Will I lose my deceased husband's pension if I remarry? ›

Remarrying after turning 60 (50 if disabled) has no effect on survivor benefits. But if you wed before reaching that age, you lose eligibility for survivor benefits on the prior marriage.

What is a surplus payout? ›

Surplus funds, also referred to as overage or excess funds, are the funds remaining after a mortgage is paid through the final judgment of a foreclosure auction.

What is the surplus amount? ›

Surplus is the amount of an asset or resource that exceeds the portion that is utilized. To calculate consumer surplus one merely needs to subtract the actual price the consumer paid by the amount they were willing to pay.

What is surplus payment? ›

A paid-in surplus is the incremental amount paid by an investor for a company's shares that exceeds the par value of the shares. If there is no par value, then the entire amount paid is classified as paid-in surplus. This amount is recorded in a separate equity account, which appears in the balance sheet of the issuer.

How do I get the $16728 Social Security bonus? ›

To acquire the full amount, you need to maximize your working life and begin collecting your check until age 70. Another way to maximize your check is by asking for a raise every two or three years. Moving companies throughout your career is another way to prove your worth, and generate more money.

What is the average Social Security check? ›

According to the Social Security Administration (SSA), the average monthly retirement benefit for Security Security recipients is $1,781.63 as of February. Several factors can drag that average up or down, but you have the most control over the biggest variable of all — the age that you decide to cash in.

What is a good pension amount? ›

For a quick estimate, try the '50-70' rule. This suggests that you should aim for an annual income that is between 50 and 70 per cent of your working income.

How much does an average person have in their bank account? ›

The average savings account balance in the United States was $41,600 in 2019, while the median account balance across the country was only $5,300. The average and median balances vary depending on age, with older generations having more savings.

How many Americans have $100000 in savings? ›

Most Americans are not saving enough for retirement. According to the survey, only 14% of Americans have $100,000 or more saved in their retirement accounts. In fact, about 78% of Americans have $50,000 or less saved for retirement.

How much does the average person have in their savings account? ›

How much do you currently have in your savings account? For nearly a third of average Americans, this number is $100 or less. GOBankingRates recently surveyed 1,000 Americans ages 18 and older to learn more about their banking practices and found that 32.9% have no more than $100 in their savings account.

How much does a beneficiary receive? ›

Your beneficiaries will receive a single payment that includes the entire death benefit. Specific income payout. In this scenario, the death benefit will be placed by the insurer into an interest-bearing account, and beneficiaries receive monthly or annual payments of an amount they choose.

Is a spouse automatically the beneficiary of a pension? ›

The Spouse Is the Automatic Beneficiary for Married People

A federal law, the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), governs most pensions and retirement accounts.

What are the 3 types of beneficiaries? ›

A primary beneficiary is the person (or people or organizations) you name to receive your stuff when you die. A contingent beneficiary is second in line to receive your assets in case the primary beneficiary passes away. And a residuary beneficiary gets any property that isn't specifically left to another beneficiary.

How long does it take for a pension payout? ›

Usually it will take around four to five weeks from the date of your request for your pension provider to release your lump sum.

How do I check my Alexander Forbes pension fund? ›

Good news – you have access to your Alexander Forbes Retirement Fund benefit statements 24/7. All you need to do is register for AF Online. Once registered you can download your benefit statement at any time of the night or day.

Can I withdraw all my pension as a lump sum? ›

You can take your whole pension pot as cash straight away if you want to, no matter what size it is. You can also take smaller sums as cash whenever you need to. 25% of your total pension pot will be tax-free. You'll pay tax on the rest as if it were income.

Can I transfer my pension to my bank account? ›

Yes, your pension can be transferred to a bank account if you are taking it as a retirement income or cash sum. However, it is essential to consider the potential risks and disadvantages of doing so, such as losing any guarantees or protections associated with your current pension plan.

How much of my pension can I take cash free? ›

You can take 25 per cent of any pension pot as a tax-free lump sum. However, it is possible to cash in an entire pension pot as a single lump sum.

How do I withdraw money from an empty account? ›

Option One: Use overdrafts to withdraw the money you don't have, incur a fee, and pay back both the overdraft and the overdraft fee when you can. Option Two: Top up your checking account and withdraw the money you do have, avoid overdraft fees, and pay back the amount on terms you're in control of.

How do I claim my provident fund? ›

Submission of claims

Certified Copy of the Beneficiaries ID Document. Copy of Notice of Death/Still Birth (BI 1663) Proof of Banking Details of the Beneficiary (Bank Statement, stamped by the bank) Proof of relationship to member either an affidavit or certified copy of marriage certificate.

How do I contact Alexander Forbes Provident Fund? ›

You can contact our Advice Centre on 0860 100 444.

What is surplus cash balance? ›

A cash surplus is the cash that exceeds the cash required for day-to-day operations. How you handle your cash surplus is just as important as the management of money into and out of your cash flow cycle.

What would you do if you had a surplus of money? ›

A smart strategy is to put the money into a savings account and take some time to consider how you want to spend it. You may decide to treat yourself with a small part of it, but use the rest to pay down debt, boost your investments or simply keep saving.

Is surplus Funds legit? ›

I constantly get calls from potential clients who are suspicious of surplus funds recovery companies contacting them to inform them that they have thousands of dollars owed to them after a foreclosure known as surplus funds, excess proceeds, or overages.

How do you get cash surplus? ›

Cash surplus or deficit is revenue (including grants) minus expense, minus net acquisition of nonfinancial assets.

What is refund of surplus? ›

The Georgia Surplus Tax Refund refers to a program implemented in the state of Georgia, USA, where eligible taxpayers can receive a refund if there is a surplus in the state's revenue.

Who gets the surplus funds from a foreclosure? ›

In most states, a foreclosure ends with a public auction where the property is sold to a new owner. When a foreclosure sale results in excess proceeds—money over and above what's needed to pay off all the liens on the property—this surplus money belongs to you (the homeowner), not the lender.

What are the benefits of surplus funds? ›

Advantages. Running a budget surplus means there is additional money to spend at the end of the accounting period, which is generally a fiscal year. This extra cash can be used to pay off debts or be reinvested in other projects. It can even be returned to the public in the form of price or tax cuts.

What are the reasons for cash surplus? ›

Reasons for Surplus

A surplus occurs when there is some sort of disconnect between supply and demand for a product, or when some people are willing to pay more for a product than others.

What is leftover money called? ›

Discretionary income refers to the amount of money you have left over after paying for essentials, like rent and food.

When was the last time the US government had a surplus? ›

According to the Congressional Budget Office, the United States last had a budget surplus during fiscal year 2001, though the national debt still increased.

What is the largest unclaimed funds? ›

Unclaimed Money: $6.1 Million Payout in Missouri Could be Largest in U.S. History. Award is believed to be the biggest unclaimed money payout in U.S. history.

What are surplus funds in banking? ›

Surplus funds are extra monies above the foreclosure judgment amount held by the Clerk of Court following a sale in a foreclosure case. The plaintiff in such cases (either the Bank or the Association) may only bid up to its judgment amount at the sale.

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