Windfalls are just waiting

CHECK your pockets right now ? that winning $10 million, unregistered Oz Lotto ticket from May 17 is STILL unclaimed.

But if you were nowhere near Rose Bay South newsagency in Sydney that week, there may be a windfall waiting for you regardless.

The financial regulator, ASIC, says there is $600 million sitting unclaimed in bank, building society and credit union accounts, life insurance policies and some share issues (it has records for AMP, AXA, Foster's Group and Insurance Australia Group).

It may be you've lost track of some savings or investment schemes or that by virtue of such things you were allocated shares when a mutual became a company, for example - and don't even realise it.

The good news is that a quick visit to ASIC's Unclaimed Money Online Search tool (moneysmart.gov.au) could tell you. Be sure to enter as many combinations and permutations of your name as you can think of and common misspellings for good measure - who knows what this money is recorded under?

In total, the Australian Shareholders' Association estimates there is actually $1 billion in shares lying unclaimed - and about $140 million in dividends - by about 150,000 private investors.

Could you have shares you either don't know or have forgotten about? Find out by first approaching the company concerned. If that's the missing information, you can go to the two main services companies use to maintain their share registries: Link Market Services (linkmarketservices.com.au) and Computershare (computershare.com.au).

Unclaimed dividends are usually held by state governments. For example, the NSW Office of State Revenue, the State Revenue Office Victoria and the Public Trustee for the ACT. These agencies may also have lost money from such things as salaries and wages, rent and rental bonds, cheques, trusts, refunds and deposits, premiums, royalties, commissions and proceeds of sale.

Then there's money that has been bequeathed to people who can't be tracked down, or due to people because someone has died intestate - without a will - and their assets have been distributed to family according to the relevant jurisdiction's rules. The Public Trustee in your state often has responsibility for unclaimed estates so is a good first call. You can find the web address on the ASIC site.

But all that is loose change when compared with super without an owner. The latest figures from the Australian Taxation Office say there is $13.6 billion designated as lost. With 15 million working-age Australians, the money equates to almost $900 each.

Bearing in mind super can be ''lost'' if a person changes job, address or name, some of it could be yours. Remember that multiple funds mean multiple fees, although proposed changes mean some accounts may soon be automatically consolidated. In October, lost accounts worth less than $200 were also transferred to the ATO, but they are just as claimable.

Jump on the ATO's SuperSeeker website (ato.gov.au/superseeker) and input your name, birth date and tax file number. If you find any forgotten accounts, the service can pre-fill with your details forms to transfer to a new fund or your chosen fund may have an online system to help.

While the internet is your ally in your quest to find lost cash, be wary if you receive notification online you have a windfall. The old Nigerian letter scam has new incarnations. They won't mention Nigeria - more likely something elaborate like an inheritance from British royalty - and they will be delivered by email. What these scams have in common with their infamous parent is that, to get your payout, you'll need to provide your bank account details and, yep, it will be emptied rather than filled.

But do the right searches and contact the appropriate agencies yourself and, while it may not be $10 million, you could receive some bonus bucks.

Follow this writer on Twitter @NicolePedMcK