The unclaimed indemnities payable to beneficiaries of life and non life insurance contracts amounted to 120 billion INR (1.86 billion USD) in the 2016-2017 year which ended on June 30, 2017. This amount is up by 2.8% in comparison with the 116.7 billion INR (1.72 billion USD) reported the previous year. More than 91% of these unclaimed funds, that is, 109.2 billion INR (1.7 billion USD) are held by life companies. India’s largest life insurance group, Life Insurance Corporation (LIC), alone accounts for 60 billion INR (929 million USD) of unclaimed money.
The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority in India, (IRDAI), now requires insurers to deposit the sums unclaimed for more than 10 years and in excess of 1000 INR (15.5 USD) to the Senior Citizens’ Welfare Fund.
Legal beneficiaries will have up to 25 years, from the date of transfer of the money to the fund, to claim their entitlements. Beyond 25 years, unclaimed amounts will become the property of the government.
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