How do you claim provident funds?

To claim the provident fund, you need to provide a retirement letter, withdrawal notification form, and supporting documents to the HR department.

How do I check if I have an unclaimed benefit?

The department that deals with unclaimed benefits is Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA). You can check your status by contacting them or providing the required details to claim unclaimed retirement fund benefits for yourself or on behalf of the GEPF member.

Does the unclaimed provident fund expire?

No, unclaimed provident funds do not expire. They get due on the organisation or the state because they have not paid the funds to the retired person or their dependents for more than two years after retirement.

Who qualifies for a provident fund?

Whoever serves an employer or an organisation participating in the fund automatically qualifies for the provident fund. In other words, as soon as you get employed or start serving an employer, you qualify for the provident fund.

How to Claim Unclaimed Provident Funds for Deceased in ZA

One significant benefit of being a government employee is you get provident funds and a pension. No matter in which country you serve as a government employee, you will get these funds as your retirement savings, so you don’t face any financial difficulty after retiring.

Amazing, right? Every government employee gets these funds upon retirement, but they can also be provided if someone has died during their service, along with other payments.

Often, these funds are not paid to the beneficiaries within the set time span, which is why these funds are known as unclaimed provident funds.

So, if you want to know about how to claim unclaimed provident funds for the deceased, then you are at the right place. Please review our article, and all queries about unclaimed provident funds for the deceased will be resolved.

What Makes Provident Funds Unclaimed?

Let’s start with what makes provident funds unclaimed. Well, retirement funds or pensions are usually paid within two years of the employee’s retirement. Unclaimed provident funds are not paid for two years, regardless of the reason.

If the employee is deceased, the provident funds automatically transfer to the beneficiary. However, there is an eligibility criterion for the beneficiaries too. Please read the following points to know if you can claim the provident funds of the deceased.

Provident Funds Eligibility

A government employee who has retired from the job.
Beneficiaries of the deceased government/GEPF employ.
Guardians of GEPF members or their beneficiaries.

Causes of Unclaimed Provident Funds for Deceased

The leading cause of provident funds not being paid within 24 months is their paperwork being incomplete or submitted to the particular department.
Insufficient information about the deceased spouse or other beneficiaries on the GEPF records makes them ineligible for claiming the funds.
Another reason for unclaimed provident funds of the deceased is due tax payment, or the members have not registered themselves for the tax, which is why GEPF is not releasing the grant to the deceased beneficiaries.
Rarely due to inaccurate banking information or frozen accounts, the paid benefits are returned to the GEPF instead of the deceased family members.

Who Can Claim Provident Funds of the Deceased

Provident funds are allotted to the person/persons dependent on the GEPF member if deceased. The funds are automatically transferred to the deceased member’s beneficiaries if they have no dependents.

However, not each dependent can get provident funds. Now you must be thinking about who will get the fund benefits if there is more than one dependent, aren’t you? In such cases, the fund’s trustee reviews the list of the dependent members and decides who will receive the provident funds or pension of the deceased member.

How To Claim Unclaimed Provident Funds for Deceased?

Although the funds differ for those, who departed from this world while in service from those who have completed their service years, if you are related to a GEPF member who is no longer alive, you can claim the pension payment or provident funds. Follow these steps to claim the unclaimed funds for the deceased.

If you are a GEPF member or spouse of the member, then you will need complete banking details from Z894 and the applicant’s ID to claim the unclaimed benefits.
Suppose you are a beneficiary and want to claim the unclaimed provident funds for the deceased. In that case, you will need to provide the death certificate of the GEPF member, a certified copy of the applicant’s ID, and a Z894 form with complete banking details.
Moreover, if the beneficiary is a minor, then along with the documents mentioned above, you will need to provide a guardian letter and a certified copy of the guardian’s ID to claim the unclaimed provident funds for the deceased.

GEPF Death Benefits

The Guaranteed Benefits for members and Pensioners (GEPF) provides funds to the members and the deceased, so you don’t have to struggle with the finances after retiring. A special grant is awarded to the spouse or the orphans of the GEPF member.

There are two types of GEPF death benefits, including death while in service or death after being a pensioner. Both spouses and children of the deceased can claim the pension or provident funds for the deceased.

How do you claim provident funds?

To claim the provident fund, you need to provide a retirement letter, withdrawal notification form, and supporting documents to the HR department.
How do I check if I have an unclaimed benefit?

The department that deals with unclaimed benefits is Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA). You can check your status by contacting them or providing the required details to claim unclaimed retirement fund benefits for yourself or on behalf of the GEPF member.
Does the unclaimed provident fund expire?

No, unclaimed provident funds do not expire. They get due on the organisation or the state because they have not paid the funds to the retired person or their dependents for more than two years after retirement.
Who qualifies for a provident fund?

Whoever serves an employer or an organisation participating in the fund automatically qualifies for the provident fund. In other words, as soon as you get employed or start serving an employer, you qualify for the provident fund.

Undoubtedly, the state automatically pays the provident funds to the deceased person’s family members. Still, if not paid in the time duration of two years, then the beneficiaries or dependents have full right to claim unclaimed provident funds in the name of a deceased employee.

So if you have also not received provident funds for the deceased member, keep in mind you can claim these anytime. I hope you found the content of our article helpful!