What happens to contracts left unclaimed by French citizens?

According to Ciclade, a public service dedicated to locating forgotten or unclaimed accounts and investments, no less than 7 billion euros are currently awaiting claimants at the Caisse des Dépôts. 

The year 2023 marked a resurgence for the Eckert Act initiative—which aims to better inform holders of inactive bank accounts and beneficiaries of life insurance policies in order to reduce the number of unclaimed policies—as the website recorded 11 million searches (out of a total of 15 million since 2017), 

223,774 refund requests in 2023 (out of 524,568 since 2017)—where "requests" refer to searches that result in a match for a forgotten item—and 154.6 million euros refunded in 2023, out of 838.7 million euros refunded since 2017.

On average, €747 was refunded per beneficiary in 2023, and €1,784 has been refunded on average per beneficiary since 2017. “These are significant amounts, especially since the search process is really very simple: in just a few seconds, you enter your personal information, and Ciclade tells you if there are any accounts, savings accounts, or life insurance policies potentially in your name. And the funds can be returned in just a few weeks. 100% of the winners gave it a try!” says Maxime Chipoy, president of MoneyVox.

This is a very simple process, but unfortunately it is not used often enough, since 400 million euros have already ended up in the government’s coffers after 30 years of inactivity. “Many people forget to close bank accounts that still have small balances. These might also be savings accounts—such as Livret A accounts—opened by your family when you were a child, but which they forgot to tell you about!” explains Maxime Chipoy. 

By far the largest source of forgotten accounts ending up at the Caisse des dépôts is inactive bank accounts, followed by employee savings plans and life insurance. “For life insurance, the main issue is the beneficiary clause: a deceased relative may have left funds designated ‘to my spouse…failing that, my children…failing that, my heirs.’ This standard clause is often too vague for the insurer to identify the correct beneficiaries, particularly in the case of blended families. It is therefore very important to draft this clause precisely, specifying the beneficiaries’ names, addresses, dates of birth, and so on. This will make the insurer’s job much easier!” advises the president of MoneyVox.