Too many French people know that they are beneficiaries of an inactive account on which the money inherited from a missing loved one rests.
Each year in France, billions of euros sleep on bank accounts, life insurance or inactive savings booklets. In just July 2016 and late 2021, 7.18 billion euros from 10.7 million accounts and contracts were transferred to the Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations (CDC). More recently, in 2024, nearly 3.7 billion euros were waiting to be claimed by the beneficiaries, we can read on the government’s website. Colossal sums that would make more than one person dream … and yet, they remain not claimed. For what ?
When a person dies without his heirs being informed of the existence of these funds, the banks transfer money to the Caisse des Dépôts after a certain period. The lack of information, the lack of monitoring of contracts or even changes of address often prevent beneficiaries from being contacted. Result: money remains dormant, simply because the beneficiaries ignore their existence. Nevertheless, an online tool today allows you to check in a few clicks if a person is beneficiary or not from an inactive account opened by a loved one.
Indeed, if the bank of the deceased has exceeded the funding period of funds, you can use Ciclade, the free online tool of the Caisse des Dépôts. It allows you to check if money comes back and has been transferred by a financial institution. To do this, just go to the ciclade.caissesdepots.fr site and then click on stage 1 to know “I am looking for if money comes back to me “. Then it’s quite simple. First of all gather the information concerning the initial holder of the account or insurance contract and launch the research.
Over the steps, if a correspondence is found, you can start an online restitution request, which will be processed by the Caisse des Dépôts. Once validated, the money that comes back to you is paid directly to your bank account. Otherwise, your request is rejected.
