In the fast-paced world of investments and financial planning, one crucial aspect is often neglected — succession planning and asset disclosure to family. As a result, unclaimed financial assets in India have reached staggering levels across various sectors.
Let's look at some shocking numbers and the possible solutions to prevent or reclaim these assets.
🏦 Unclaimed Bank Deposits
Between 2014 and 2024, a massive ₹78,213 crore in unclaimed bank deposits were transferred to the RBI’s Depositor Education and Awareness (DEA) Fund.
✅ Solution:
🛡️ Unclaimed Life Insurance Policies
According to IRDAI, unclaimed amounts in life insurance policies reached ₹20,062 crore during the same 10-year span.
✅ Solution:
To streamline this, IRDAI is developing Bima Central – a one-stop digital platform for all insurance-related information. It aims to make policy tracking easier for policyholders and nominees. Furthermore, IRDAI has mandated digitization of all insurance policies by March 2026, which should significantly reduce such unclaimed cases in the future.
📈 Unclaimed Equity Assets
It's estimated that more than ₹1 lakh crore worth of shares are lying unclaimed across ~1,500 listed companies in India. These assets are currently held by the Investor Education and Protection Fund (IEPF).
✅ Solution:
The SEBI is making strong efforts to trace legal heirs. Recently, it proposed using Digi Locker and other digital trails to help successors reclaim these dormant shares. This could pave the way for a simplified and tech-driven asset recovery process.
🔚 Conclusion: Why Awareness Matters
The reality is clear — lack of communication and planning causes families to lose access to wealth rightfully theirs.
✅ What can you do?
Document your financial assets.
Inform your immediate family members.
Take the help of a SEBI Registered Investment Advisor who can guide you in proper nomination, documentation, and succession planning.
These small steps today can prevent major financial losses tomorrow.
💡 Let’s bring these hidden assets back to rightful owners.
Awareness is the first step to reclaiming wealth.
