"Claim Your 10.3 Trillion Won in Unclaimed Insurance Payouts" ... Notifications via Mail and Mobile

3.25 Trillion Won in Unclaimed Insurance Payouts Distributed Last Year

The Financial Services Commission and the insurance industry are launching an initiative to locate the owners of 10.3 trillion won in unclaimed insurance payouts, where the payment amount has been confirmed but has not yet been claimed.

According to the Financial Services Commission on July 7, starting this month, the most up-to-date addresses of policyholders and beneficiaries with unclaimed insurance payouts will be checked, and individual notifications regarding these hidden funds will be sent out.

The total amount of unclaimed insurance payouts targeted for distribution this year is 10.3 trillion won.

The Financial Services Commission stated that last year, it conducted a focused notification campaign within the insurance sector regarding unclaimed insurance payouts, returning a total of 3.247 trillion won to consumers.

Unclaimed insurance payouts typically occur when the payout amount has been finalized, but the consumer is unaware of the payout.

When an insurance contract matures, the accumulated interest rate drops significantly, reaching 0% after three years. If the policyholder does not claim the payout without knowing this fact, it is also classified as unclaimed insurance payout.

Last year's 3.247 trillion won in distributed unclaimed insurance payouts consisted of 1.8992 trillion won in intermediate insurance payouts, 1.1394 trillion won in maturity insurance payouts, 146.5 billion won in dormant insurance payouts, and 61.9 billion won in death insurance payouts.

Here, intermediate insurance payouts refer to cases where the policyholder is unaware that funds such as congratulatory payments, children's education funds, independence funds, health checkup funds, living expenses, travel expenses, dividends, accident installment insurance payouts, or survival annuities have been generated during the contract period and have not been collected.

Maturity insurance payouts refer to payouts that have not reached the statute of limitations, meaning less than three years have passed since the contract matured.

Dormant insurance payouts refer to cases where three years have passed since the payout became due and the statute of limitations has expired, but neither the policyholder nor the beneficiary has claimed the funds, so the insurance company or Korea Inclusive Finance Agency retains the money.

Homepage image of the Life Insurance and Non-Life Insurance Association's 'Find My Insurance' service. Financial Services Commission

Unclaimed insurance payouts can be identified and claimed through the Life and Non-Life Insurance Association's "FindMyInsurance" website and the Korea Inclusive Finance Agency's "DormantAccountFinder" website.

Depending on the contract date, contract maturity, and the period elapsed since maturity, interest may be paid according to the product’s terms and conditions. Therefore, it is important to carefully check the interest rate before deciding whether to claim the payout. However, since dormant insurance payouts do not provide interest, it is advantageous to claim them immediately.

However, caution is advised if you receive solicitation calls after searching for unclaimed insurance payouts on the "FindMyInsurance" website of the Life and Non-Life Insurance Association.

An official from the Financial Services Commission stated, "Those making solicitation calls are suspected to be operators of lookalike websites that lure individuals with unclaimed insurance payout inquiries or refund promises to collect and sell personal information," and emphasized, "It is important to carefully check the website address (URL), purpose of personal information use, recipients of personal information, and terms of service."

The insurance industry, in cooperation with the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, will confirm the latest addresses of policyholders starting this month and send individual notifications by mail. Together with the Korea Inclusive Finance Agency, ongoing public outreach will be conducted through YouTube promotions, video broadcasts, and the distribution of promotional items.

This year, there are also plans to provide education and promotional activities targeting seniors who are not familiar with non-face-to-face financial transaction services such as internet or mobile banking. In collaboration with consumer organizations, offline promotions will be strengthened for the elderly, including demonstrations of how to check for unclaimed insurance payouts and guidance on verifying insurance enrollment.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.