The amount of cash sleeping on accounts in Belgium has risen to 622 million euros. These are monies on bank accounts, in safe deposit boxes and on insurance accounts that have remained untouched for a lengthy period of time and there has been no contact with the holder or their heirs. For bank accounts it means there have been no transactions for at least 5 years. Some accounts were opened by grandparents for the benefit of their grandchildren, but these relatives were never informed.
The amount of cash sleeping on accounts continues to rise. At the start of last year the figure was 575 million euros. During the course of the year nearly 4,000 people came forward to claim cash lowering the total by 10 million euros, but in the meantime even more cash had been added to the total.
All unclaimed funds are transferred to the state till they are claimed. People with a claim have 30 years in which to come forward. Otherwise they forfeit any claim to the monies.
You can check whether you are due any unclaimed funds by logging onto mymyfin.be. Monies can be claimed digitally by using the e-DEPO application.