Unclaimed Life Assurance Policies Act

Unclaimed life assurance policies notice

Under the terms of the Unclaimed Life Assurance Policies Act 2003, life assurance companies are required to identify policies where there has been no recent communication from the policy holder and to designate them as unclaimed policies.  

A policy is unclaimed where premiums are no longer being paid, an amount is payable to the policy holder*, and where, in the case of:  

• a fixed term policy which matured at least five years ago, there has been no communication from the policy holder since the policy matured, or  
• a policy without a fixed term, there has been no communication from the policy holder for at least 15 years, or  
• a personal pension policy (i.e., not linked to an employer's pension scheme), five years have gone by, without communication, since the latest retirement date contained in the policy

Life assurance companies are required to contact holders of unclaimed policies to find out their wishes in respect of the policy, for example, to receive any money due or to continue/reactivate the policy (if permitted by the policy conditions). Once instructions are received from the customer, the policy will be removed from the unclaimed list.  

Life assurance companies are not required to write to holders of unclaimed policies where

• the value of the policy is less than €500, or  
• the company has been instructed not to correspond with or contact the policyholder, or  
• the company has tried but failed to contact the customer. In such cases, this webpage serves as notice of the Act’s provisions

Where there has been no communication from the customer by the 31 March of the following year, the net encashment value of the policy will be transferred to the National Treasury Management Agency, which will manage the funds on behalf of the State.  

The rights of policy owners are unaffected by the transfer of moneys to the National Treasury Management Agency. Policies may be reclaimed from the insurance company by following the procedures outlined in the leaflet A Guide to Unclaimed Life Assurance Policies available from all life assurance companies or from insuranceireland.eu.  

If you have any queries or concerns regarding a policy which you believe may be classified as unclaimed, please contact us .  

Where the original owner of the policy has died or ownership of the policy has been transferred, any person having a valid legal interest in an unclaimed policy, for example, heirs, executors, administrators, or assignees, should contact Standard Life. 

Individuals who make fraudulent claims may be guilty of an offence.  

* This does not apply to a policy which constitutes or forms part of the assets of an occupational pension scheme, other retirement benefit scheme or trust; a group permanent health insurance or disability benefit scheme; a sponsored superannuation scheme.