How to find your lost money, bank accounts and rental bonds

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The federal government is holding about $1.1 billion worth of lost money and some of that might belong to you.

An example of lost, or unclaimed money as it is referred to, includes money from bank, credit union and building society accounts that have not been used in seven years and contain a balance of $500 or more.

Other types of lost money can include unpresented cheques, dividends, refunds and overpayments, interest, trust account funds and rental bonds.

how to find your lost money

Money from company shareholdings can go missing - for example when there has been a company takeover, or from companies that have been unable to contact shareholders.

To find out if you are entitled to any unclaimed money, the best place to start is the Australian Securities and Investments Commission's (ASIC) website moneysmart.gov.au, which has records of accounts with insurance companies, banks, building societies and credit unions, as well as company shareholdings.

Click on the Tools & Resources link and you'll see the "Find unclaimed money" option.

There are links to state revenue or public trustee's offices, as they too have lists of unclaimed money.

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Maria Bekiaris is editorial campaigns manager for Canstar and former deputy editor of Money. She holds a Bachelor's degree in business.