Insurance company Life Insurance Corporation of India (LICI) Fiji transferred $180,000 in unclaimed monies to the Reserve Bank of Fiji (RBF) last year.
These are benefits belonging to policyholders whose policies had matured and had remained unclaimed for seven years or more.
LICI Fiji manager Finance and Investment Vivek Prakash said the $180,000 in unclaimed monies belonged to some 350 policies.
“This amount is liable. Whenever the customer come back, we will contact RBF and they will get back to us,” Mr Prakash said.
“As per the Insurance Act, there is a provision that whatever unclaimed money is there with the insurance company for more than seven years, it has to be transferred to the regulator.
“Whenever the customer comes for that, we can ask the regulator for that money. We will get it from them (regulator) and then we will pay to the customer.
“It is just a regulatory requirement so that the money is not kept with us, it is with the authorities and it should be paid to the legitimate beneficiary.”
Mr Prakash said the company was working hard to track down those legitimate claimants.
“We are not keeping any stone unturned to do the follow-ups and get the right claimant.”
He added majority of those unclaimed policies belonged to people who now settled abroad.
“We are trying with whatever the contact numbers they have given, which are outdated so we are trying to reach them through email and Facebook.
“And also on our website, we are always placing unclaimed amounts.”
Mr Prakash said their experience, after publishing unclaimed monies on their websites or in other mediums, they would receive calls from their policyholders who were mostly abroasd.
“And then we are collecting the money and sending abroad, mostly these customers.”
LICI Fiji transferred $120,000 to the central bank in 2024.
Meanwhile, the insurance company received 182 death claims, amounting to more than $4 million.
The company recorded 190 death claims in 2024. “Today (December 31) is the last day, there is no possibility to increase but there is a possibility that deaths that happened this year (2025) will be reported next year.
