When does dormant money go to UFAA?
Unclaimed Financial Assets Act · sources read 5 Oct 2026
Money in a bank account with no activity or contact from you for 5 years is presumed abandoned and must be handed to the Unclaimed Financial Assets Authority (UFAA). Shorter periods apply to other assets: 2 years for matured insurance, cheques and utility deposits, 3 years for unclaimed shares and dividends, and 1 year for unpaid wages and terminal benefits. You never lose the money; you can claim it from UFAA at any time.
- How long
- UFAA must consider a claim within 90 days of filing.
- Deadline
- A court case against UFAA must be filed within 90 days of its decision, or within 180 days of filing the claim if it has not acted.
- Deadline
- There is no deadline to claim your money from UFAA.
- Where
- UFAA: dial *361#, the find & claim page on ufaa.go.ke, or Pacis Centre, 2nd Floor, Slip Road, off Waiyaki Way, Westlands, Nairobi
Steps
- To keep a bank account from going dormant, transact on it or write to the bank about it at least once every 5 years.
- If you think your money has gone to UFAA, search for it by dialling *361# or on UFAA's find & claim page.
- File a claim with UFAA on its prescribed form. The Authority must consider it within 90 days and tell you its decision in writing.
- If UFAA rejects your claim or does not act on it within 90 days, you can take the matter to court.
Watch out
- A bank may only charge dormancy fees or stop paying interest if it does so regularly and your written contract allows it.
- Before reporting your money to UFAA, the holder must try to find you and write to your last known address.
- Unpaid wages, allowances, bonuses and terminal benefits go to UFAA if unclaimed for more than 1 year after they became payable.
- Betting accounts count too: if a betting company cannot trace a player for 5 years, the money in the account goes to UFAA.
Who this covers
- Anyone can have unclaimed assets: bank customers, policyholders and beneficiaries, shareholders, workers owed pay, and families of people who have died.
Official sources (3)
- Unclaimed Financial Assets Act, No. 40 of 2011 new.kenyalaw.org · read 5 Oct 2026
- Frequently Asked Questions ufaa.go.ke · read 2 Oct 2026
- Gambling Control Act, 2025 (No. 14 of 2025), Kenya Gazette Supplement No. 141 gra.go.ke · read 4 Oct 2026