Nearly Rs 9,000 crore belonging to insurance policyholders and their families is lying unclaimed with life and general insurance companies, often because nominees are unaware of policies, documents have been misplaced or policyholders failed to update their records.
According to information shared by the government in Parliament in March 2026, Rs 8,973.89 crore in unclaimed funds was lying with insurers as of February 28 this year.
An insurance amount is treated as unclaimed if it remains unpaid for more than 12 months after it becomes due. While the money may eventually be transferred to the government’s Senior Citizens’ Welfare Fund after 10 years, policyholders, nominees and legal heirs can still claim it for up to 25 years after the transfer.
Here’s why so much money goes unclaimed—and how you can check if some of it belongs to you.
One of the biggest reasons is that families simply do not know an insurance policy exists.
The ET report narrates the case of a Delhi woman who discovered her late father’s policy only after finding an email from the insurer months after his death. The family eventually recovered nearly Rs 4 lakh in maturity proceeds after locating the original policy documents.
Experts say such cases are far more common than many realise.
“Unclaimed insurance money continues to remain a liability on the insurers’ books and is subject to regulatory oversight. However, the bigger challenge is the lack of awareness and proactive action by policyholders and nominees in claiming benefits that rightfully belong to them,” Shilpa Arora, Co-founder and Chief Operating Officer at Insurance Samadhan, told ET.
According to Saurabh Vijayvergia, Founder and CEO of CoverSure, traditional life insurance products such as endowment, money-back and whole-life policies account for a large share of unclaimed money because they run for 15 to 30 years.
“During this period, policyholders may change their addresses, contact details or nominee information,” Vijayvergia told ET.
Most of the unclaimed money is linked to life insurance.
It includes maturity proceeds, death claims, surrender values, survival benefits, premium refunds and reduced paid-up benefits that were never collected.
For health and general insurance policies, the reasons are often different.
Kunal Kabra, Founder of Kustodian.Life, told ET that while life insurance is largely a “discoverability problem”, general insurance usually involves incomplete reimbursements, premium refunds or claims that were never fully processed.
Rajat Dutta, Founder of Inheritance Needs Services, told ET that many claims remain unsettled because policyholders fail to submit all the required hospital documents after discharge, particularly when treatment takes place away from their home city.
Experts say the first step is to identify every insurance policy linked to you or your family.
Saurabh Vijayvergia told ET that people should begin by checking old policy documents, emails, premium receipts and bank statements, as policy information is often scattered across different insurers and records.
You can then visit your insurer’s website and search under the “Unclaimed Amount” section using details such as the policy number, policyholder’s name, PAN and date of birth.
Alternatively, you can visit IRDAI’s Bima Bharosa portal, which provides links to the unclaimed amount search pages of all registered life and general insurers.
If an unclaimed amount is found, the claimant must submit KYC documents, bank account details and proof of ownership or nomination before the insurer releases the money.
Industry experts say preventing insurance money from becoming unclaimed is often easier than recovering it later.
Policyholders should inform family members about every insurance policy they own, appoint and regularly update nominees, and keep mobile numbers, addresses, email IDs and bank account details updated with insurers. Consolidating all insurance documents in one place and linking policies with PAN and Aadhaar can also make it easier for nominees to trace and claim benefits.
Parashuram Hallur, Founder and Chief Product Officer/Chief Growth Officer at Vealthx, told ET, one of the biggest reasons insurance money remains unclaimed is that policyholders never tell their families about the policies they have purchased.
With nearly Rs 9,000 crore still waiting to be claimed, experts say spending a few minutes reviewing old policies and informing family members about them could prevent years of paperwork—and ensure that money meant for loved ones does not remain unclaimed.
(Disclaimer: The views, opinions, recommendations, and suggestions expressed by experts/brokerages in this article are their own and do not reflect the views of the India Today Group. It is advisable to consult a qualified broker or financial advisor before making any actual investment or trading choices.)