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Superannuation Guarantee: How do I find unpaid or lost super?

Trish Power — Sun, 27 Mar 2011 09:51:57 +0000

Q: I worked in a company in Perth in 2000. I left that job and returned to the east coast. As it was a new company they decided to pay super after 6 months and supposedly kept the funds in an investment account until then. When I arrived in the east I sent them the name of a fund I wished to have the money put into. That did not happen. I was also told that since I did not supply a super fund when I worked they had put the money in a government approved holding deposit. I attempted to find where and when that happened and have been stonewalled ever since. Is there a way I can force them to disclose when and how much and where. I have strong reason to believe it has never been done. When I call them I get no support at all. Any thoughts on where to go to track this down would be helpful. I have looked on super tracker sites but what I found definitely does not correspond with what I estimate would be owing form Perth.

A: I’m sorry to read about your situation. I suggest you contact the ATO Superannuation hotline on 13 10 20 and report your employer for non-payment. The ATO has been given additional resources to chase up slack employers.

By the way, an employer is supposed to pay Superannuation Guarantee (SG) at least quarterly so any employer who hasn’t paid will be liable to penalties in addition to non-payment of super.

It’s possible that your employer may have paid the money into an Eligible Rollover Fund, and you could try AUSfund to see if your money is there, although it sounds like you have tried everything already, and based on the information that you have provided it appears your employer has not done the right thing by you.

The following SuperGuide articles may also be of assistance:

Super in 3 steps: You’re probably richer than you think

Trish Power — Tue, 22 Feb 2011 01:43:21 +0000

Here’s a tip: a quick and easy way to feel instantly richer is to take the following 3 steps:

Find out how much money you have sitting in your superannuation account.
Locate any lost or forgotten super accounts
Consolidate your super accounts, and potentially save thousands of dollars.

Step 1: Find out how much super you have now

The money that you have in your super account is likely to be as a result of your employer making superannuation contributions every three months (or possibly every month) and the operators (trustees) of your super fund then investing this money in assets that generate an investment return (earnings). The investment returns, after taxes and fees, are then added to your super account and the super fund re-invests those earnings hopefully generating even more investment returns.

Now, you can’t expect your super money to just be sitting in a money safe somewhere. The super fund that is looking about your superannuation benefits is likely to have invested that money in assets, such as shares and property, and maybe even have placed a percentage of your super benefits into a term deposit (maybe).

Every year, and often twice a year (and sometimes quarterly), your super fund sends you a member statement that tells you how much money you have in your super account.

Usually, you don’t have to wait for this statement. Many super funds let you log onto a special members-only website to find out how much money you have in your super account. Many super funds update member accounts monthly, and even daily.

Remember, you may have more than one super account.

Example: Miranda’s super surprise

Miranda is 20 years of age. She works as an administrative assistant during the week, and at a hardware store on Saturdays. She has two super accounts with different super funds. Miranda has a log-in and special password for the super fund associated with his full-time work. He visits the super fund’s website and finds out that she has $10,000 in her super account. Wow! Miranda flicks through her official papers at home and finds the last member statement for the super fund related to her part-time work. The statement says she has $700 in the account, but the member statement is dated two years earlier. She phones the super fund, and after providing member details, she is told that has $1,100 in her second account. Miranda is rapt: she has $11,100 in super savings.

Step 2: Find any lost or forgotten super accounts

If you have moved house in the past, have you kept track of these multiple super accounts? No? Not to worry. You have access to plenty of services to help you find your lost super accounts, and increase your super benefits instantly.

Use the ATO’s SuperSeeker service (www.ato.gov.au/super and click on ‘SuperSeeker’) which searches the Lost Members Register and other ATO records, such as unclaimed super money, for your lost super accounts. You can also use the phone service (tel: 13 28 65)
Try AUSfund (www.unclaimedsuper.com.au) which looks after the lost super of millions of Australians for some of the largest super funds in Australia. If they have your super, they will find it for free.
Ask your current super fund if they offer a service for finding your lost super.
Ask your previous employers for the names of the super funds that received contributions on your behalf.

Example: Josh’s jackpot

Josh is 37 and he has worked in Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland. Josh has had 15 jobs during his working life, and moved houses nearly as many times. He suspects that he has at least 5 lost super accounts. He uses AUSfund, finding two super accounts. Armed with his name, date of birth and tax file number, Josh then uses the ATO’s SuperSeeker service and finds 4 more accounts, providing him with an extra $25,000 of super. Josh now believes he has even more super accounts, and he plans to contact past employers.

Step 3: Consolidate your super accounts

If you have more than one super account then you are paying more than one set of fees on your retirement savings. By combining super accounts, you can potentially save tens of thousands of dollars over your working life.

Check that the super fund that you plan to keep charges reasonable fees. Paying an additional 1% in fees over a 30-year period can reduce your final super benefit by up to 20%
Check whether the super funds that you choose to leave charge exit fees. You may decide to wait until exit fees no longer apply.
Obtain the ‘transfer your superannuation’ form from your selected super fund.

The consolidation process takes some time, especially collecting account details from each super fund, but a single super account and one set of fees can make life easier and lead to a larger super benefit.

Find lost super in 4 steps, and make quick cash

Trish Power — Tue, 19 Oct 2010 23:24:48 +0000

Did you know that billions of dollars is sitting in lost super accounts waiting for Australians to claim the super cash?

If you change jobs regularly or you have had part-time jobs while at school or university, then it is highly likely that you have more than one super account. On average, every working Australian has three super accounts potentially costing them thousands of dollars over a working life. With very little effort, you can boost your main super account by potentially thousands of dollars by tracking down your lost super. An extra incentive for finding your super accounts, is, if you don’t track down your lost super, it could end up in the bank account of the Federal Government – bye bye super!

If you have more than one super account then you are paying more than one set of fees on your retirement savings. By combining super accounts you can save tens of thousands of dollars in fees over your working life.

Finding your super accounts

Don’t worry if you haven’t kept track of your multiple accounts. It’s never too late, but you must locate your super accounts before you can combine them into one super account.

Your super fund/s sends you a statement each year reporting your account balance and fund returns. If you’re not receiving these statements and/or don’t know which super funds that you belong to, then you have access to plenty of services to help you find your lost accounts, and increase your super benefits instantly.

SuperSeeker. Use the ATO’s SuperSeeker service which searches the Lost Members Register and other ATO records, such as unclaimed super money, for your lost super accounts. You can also use the phone service (13 28 65).
AUSfund. Try AUSfund which looks after the lost super of millions of Australians for some of the largest super funds in Australia. If they have your super, they will find it for free.
Current super fund. Ask your current super fund if they offer a service for finding your lost super.
Previous employers. Ask your previous employers for the names of the super funds that received contributions on your behalf.

Consolidate super accounts

You can make a few thousand dollars without working too hard, by locating the details of your super accounts, and starting the process of combining your many accounts into one super fund.

Check that the super account you plan to keep charges reasonable fees. Paying an additional 1% in fees over a 30-year period can reduce your final super benefit by up to 20%. For information on what the different types of funds charge in fees see article Feeding frenzy: super fund fees.

Check whether the super funds that you choose to leave charge exit fees. You may decide to wait until exit fees no longer apply.

What type of lost super benefits can be transferred to the ATO?

The following is an extract from the ATO website:

Recent changes to the law mean that super funds will have to pay certain lost accounts as unclaimed superannuation money to the ATO.
How will it work?
From 1 July 2010, super funds will be required to pay unclaimed superannuation money to the ATO where an account is held by a lost member and:
it has a balance of less than $200 (small lost member accounts), or
the fund has not received an amount in respect of the member within the past five years and the fund, given the information reasonably available, is satisfied that it will never be possible to pay an amount to the member (insoluble lost member accounts).
Individuals will be able to reclaim their money from the ATO at any time and, from late February 2010, will be able to use SuperSeeker to search for unclaimed super.
The first reporting period for this change is 1 January to 30 June 2010. The due date for lodgment and payment is 31 October 2010.
The following conditions are unchanged, and accounts must continue to be paid to the ATO as unclaimed superannuation money when:
a member is aged 65 and the fund:
has not received an amount in respect of the member within the past two years
has not been able to contact the member after the end of a period of five years, after making reasonable efforts to do so
a member dies and:
there is a benefit immediately payable for the member
the fund has not received an amount in respect of the member within the past 2 years
the fund, after making reasonable efforts and after a reasonable period has passed, is unable to ensure the person entitled to the benefit receives it
a non-member spouse is entitled to be paid an amount as a result of a payment split and the fund is unable to ensure the benefit is received by the person entitled to receive the benefit after making reasonable efforts and after a reasonable period has passed
the account belongs to a former temporary resident.