Unclaimed bank deposits, shares and insurance: how to find and claim your money
On 23 October 2026 the Finance Minister asked regulators to speed up refunds of unclaimed money. How to search UDGAM, IEPF, Bima Bharosa and MITRA.
Money that people forget in old bank accounts, insurance policies, shares and mutual funds is back on the government's agenda. Here is what was said and how you can check whether some of it is yours.
What happened on 23 October 2026
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman chaired the 30th meeting of the Financial Stability and Development Council (FSDC) in New Delhi on 23 October 2026. The heads of RBI, SEBI, IRDAI and PFRDA attended.
According to the Finance Ministry's statement, she urged regulators to speed up the refund of unclaimed assets to their rightful owners. The statement lists bank deposits, dividends, shares, post office accounts, insurance and pension funds. The council also asked ministries and regulators to make more efforts under the "Your Money, Your Right" campaign.
No new rule or deadline was announced. The claim process below is the one already in place.
Why money becomes unclaimed
- Bank deposits: if a savings account or deposit has no activity for 10 years or more, the bank moves the money to RBI's Depositor Education and Awareness (DEA) Fund.
- Shares and dividends: dividends unpaid or unclaimed for 7 years in a row, and the shares linked to them, are moved by the company to the Investor Education and Protection Fund Authority (IEPFA).
- Insurance: an amount is treated as unclaimed when it is not paid for 12 months after it falls due. After 10 years it moves to the Senior Citizens' Welfare Fund.
- Mutual funds: redemption, maturity or dividend money that cannot be credited, for example because of a closed bank account, goes into a separate unclaimed scheme. A folio with no transaction for 10 years is treated as inactive.
In every case the money still belongs to you or your legal heirs. For bank deposits and IEPF there is no time limit to claim. For insurance moved to the Senior Citizens' Welfare Fund, you can claim for up to 25 years from the transfer.
Where to search, for free
The Department of Financial Services runs a single gateway at unclaimedassetsportal.in that links to each regulator's portal:
- Bank deposits: RBI's UDGAM portal. Register with your name and mobile number. Then search with the account holder's name, the bank, and one of PAN, driving licence, voter ID, passport number or date of birth. If you have none of these, you can search with the address.
- Shares and dividends: the IEPF portal. Search with PAN, name, or company name with demat ID or folio number.
- Insurance: IRDAI's Bima Bharosa portal. It links to each insurer's page for checking unclaimed amounts.
- Mutual funds: MITRA on MF Central. It shows unclaimed and inactive investments and the fund house where they sit.
How to claim
- Bank deposit: UDGAM only finds the money. You claim it from the bank itself, at a branch, with your KYC documents. A legal heir needs the death certificate and the bank's claim papers.
- Shares and dividends: you file the claim with the IEPF Authority. There is no fee.
- Insurance: approach the insurer, even if the money has moved to the Senior Citizens' Welfare Fund. There is no fee.
- Mutual funds: contact the fund house or its registrar named in MITRA, and update your KYC and bank account.
During the first Your Money, Your Right campaign, from October to December 2025, about ₹4,200 crore was returned to owners after camps in 748 districts, the Finance Ministry said on 31 December 2025.
Stop it from happening again
Keep your mobile number, address, KYC and nominee updated in every bank account, demat account, mutual fund folio and insurance policy. Tell your family where you hold money. Close accounts you no longer use instead of leaving them idle. If you have an old SBI account with a zero balance, read our guide on SBI closing inoperative zero-balance accounts.
Be careful of agents who offer to "recover" unclaimed money for a fee or ask for your OTP. The official portals and claims are free.
Sources: PIB: FSDC reviews macro-financial stability, 23 October 2026, PIB: Your Money, Your Right explainer, 26 December 2025, PIB: Your Money, Your Right campaign concludes, 31 December 2025, RBI: FAQs on the UDGAM portal, Department of Financial Services: Unclaimed assets portal, Hindustan Times: Sitharaman urges regulators to speed up refunds of unclaimed assets, 23 October 2026.
Rules, rates and limits change. Check the official source linked above before you rely on a figure here. Posts never contain referral or affiliate links from the writer.
Want to write for Saifu? Here is how.