Moved house in the last ten years? Nine places your money may be waiting

Before you start: five minutes of preparation

Write down every surname you have used, every suburb you have lived in with rough dates, and the names of banks, employers and super funds you remember. Registers match on names and confirm on addresses, so an accurate list turns a vague search into a confident one.

The nine checks

1. 1Rental bonds. Bond authorities in each state hold refunds that were never collected, including part-refunds after a shared house broke up.
2. 2Utility and telco accounts. A credit balance on a closed electricity, gas or phone account is regularly written back and eventually transferred to the state revenue office.
3. 3Old bank accounts. Anything untouched for seven years is now sitting with ASIC on the MoneySmart register.
4. 4Superannuation. Every job creates a potential account. Check myGov for both fund-held and ATO-held super.
5. 5Final pay and entitlements. Unpaid wages, commissions and entitlements can be held by the Fair Work Ombudsman.
6. 6Share dividends. Registries cannot pay dividends to an address that no longer exists; undelivered amounts go to ASIC.
7. 7Insurance refunds. Cancelled or lapsed policies frequently leave a pro-rata refund that was posted to your old address.
8. 8State revenue office registers. Overpaid rates, court deposits, unclaimed cheques and business refunds all land here.
9. 9Estates and bankruptcies. If a relative has died, or you were once involved in a bankruptcy, money may be held in your name by AFSA or a public trustee.

What a real result looks like

A genuine register entry shows an amount, the organisation that transferred the money, and enough identifying detail - usually a last known address - for you to recognise it as yours. You then lodge a claim, generally with the organisation that held the money originally, and prove your identity.

How long it takes

Searching is instant. Claims typically take a few weeks, and longer if the money relates to a deceased estate or the identity evidence is thin. Most registers keep holding the money while a claim is sorted out, so an incomplete claim can usually be resubmitted with better documents.