Your questions
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Sums of money from dormant accounts and unclaimed life insurance policies are transferred to Caisse des Dépôts by banks, insurance companies and employee savings bodies. Your search criteria are therefore compared against the data these institutions forward to us.
If your search does not yield any matches, we recommend that you get in touch with the financial institution where the account or life insurance policy you are looking for was opened. This will enable you to find out where the money you are looking for is located.
- If the period of time that has lapsed since the account or policy was opened has not yet reached the statutory timeframe for transfer to Caisse des Dépôts, it will still be in the original financial institution's safekeeping.
- If the account or life insurance policy has been inactive for 30 years, any sums will already have been transferred to the State, and it is no longer possible to get them back.
- If the account or life insurance policy has just reached the statutory timeframe for being transferred to Caisse des Dépôts, the sums contained therein are due to be transferred to us any time now. You will be able to search for them again shortly.
Make an appointment with the financial institution that issued the capitalisation bond or bearer bond to request its return (bank branch or general insurance agent). You will need to bring your original certificate(s) so that they can be taken in charge by the latter to initiate the processing of your request for the return of inactive assets. Once the capitalisation voucher(s) have been checked by the insurance company, a certificate of authenticity will be delivered to you. As an individual or a legal entity, you can then make your request via the online form by filling in the reference(s) found on the certificate of authenticity issued by the insurance company. You can enter a maximum of 10 references online. If you enter more than 10 references, you will have to perform a new search.
It is important to note that you must not send or deposit your capitalisation voucher(s) directly to Caisse des Dépôts. Your sole contact for initiating the request for reimbursement of inactive assets from capitalisation bonds is the insurer who issued the capitalisation bonds or bearer bonds.
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If you are looking for profit-sharing placed on a company savings plan by the employer (PEE), do a search on the Ciclade.fr website
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If you are looking for profit-sharing or incentive payments that have not been placed in a company savings plan by the employer consult the website https://ciclade.caissedesdepots.fr/en/i-am-looking-dormant-employee-savings-schem
After the one-year period, your former employer must have deposited your employee savings at Caisse des Dépôts.
If your search did not yield any results, it would be worth trying again at regular intervals. Financial institutions (banks, insurance companies and employees savings bodies) deposit new sums with Caisse des Dépôts:
- every month for insurance companies
- every three months for banks and employees savings bodies.
The search is performed from the account holder (name under which the account was opened) or the life insurance policyholder (name under which the policy was taken out).
The Ciclade website allows you to search for capitalisation bonds or bearer bonds. Make your request via the online form by informing the reference(s) present on the certificate of authenticity delivered by the insurance company. You can enter a maximum of 10 references online. If you enter more than 10 references, you will have to carry out a new search.
It is not yet possible to enter a search for a legal entity on the Ciclade.fr website. This option will be available in the coming months. In the meantime, please call 0 809 40 40 41 (cost of a local call from a landline or mobile in France, excluding any additional charges depending on your operator).
You should never communicate your personal data or, above all, your account numbers, over the 'phone. Indeed, Caisse des Dépôts never asks for this information over the 'phone.
Caisse des Dépôts does not contact individuals to return unclaimed sums to them. This free website is the only service available for searching for unclaimed sums of money transferred to Caisse des Dépôts.
Once a possible match has been found, you need to create a personal account to use for completing the necessary information and uploading your supporting documents. You will not receive a definitive answer, approving or rejecting your request, until Caisse des Dépôts has studied all of these facts. If your request is approved, the sums sought will be returned to you.
When you are trying to track down a dormant account or unclaimed life insurance policy that you took out or hold, you need to enter your personal information. Make sure you enter the surname under which the life insurance policy or account was opened.
You can only create a personal account if your search has yielded a possible match. You can use this account to enter information and attach supporting documents to progress with your claim.
Has your search yielded a possible match? All you have to do now is click on "Create my personal account" and complete the form. An email containing an activation link will be sent to you. You will then be able to access your account.
Please note! You must create your personal account during the 15 minutes after your search yielded a possible match. If you want to create it later, you will have to launch a new search beforehand.
You can use it to act on a search that yielded a possible match. Enter information and attach supporting documents in your personal account. This information is then compared with the data that financial institutions forward to Caisse des Dépôts. If the information you provide matches up with the data in the financial institution's possession, the sums you are looking for will be returned to you.
Once the form for creating your personal account has been validated, you will be sent an email. Simply click on the activation link contained in the body of this email. Or, you can copy/paste it into the bar address of your browser and press “Enter”. You will then be able to access your account.
If you are unable to click in the activation link or if a part of the link has disappeared, please copy and paste the entire link on the address bar of your browser and press “Enter”.
The activation link may have expired. In fact, we fixed a short expiration time to protect your navigation. In this case, you should refine a new search and then create a personal account.
If the problem persists, contact us.
If you have created and activated your personal account, you can log in by clicking on the button "My account" in the top right-hand corner of your screen. You need to enter your username (the email address you indicated when creating your personal account) and your password.
Click on "Forgotten your password?" on the personal account login page. Enter your email address and a new password will then be sent to you.
If you entered 5 wrong passwords consecutively, your personal account is blocked. To unblock it, click on "Forgotten your password?" on the personal account login page. Enter your email address and you will get a new password.
If you do not log in to your personal within a period of 6 consecutive months, your personal account is blocked. To unblock it, click on "Forgotten your password?" on the personal account login page. Enter your email address and you will get a new password.
If you do not log in to your personal account within a period of 12 consecutive months and you do not have any claim being processed, your account is deleted. You will be notified by email.
Supporting documents must be attached in pdf, jpeg, png, tif or gif format.
Each supporting document must be no more than 4 MB.
You can send us a photo of your supporting document as long as it is legible, in one of the specified formats (pdf, jpeg, png, tif or gif) and is no bigger than 4 MB.
ID cards, passports, residence cards, temporary residence permits and birth certificates dated within the last three months for minors are accepted. Please note that driving licences are not considered to be a form of identity.
All of the necessary supporting documents must be supplied for your request to be processed. In this way we can be sure of giving you the correct response and of returning sums of money to the rightful beneficiary.
It takes 90 days on average to process a claim as there are several stakeholders involved (banks, insurance companies, employee savings bodies, solicitors/notaries and so on). What's more, the information concerning the sums requested must be checked and cross-checked.
Once submitted, your claim is examined by Caisse des Dépôts: the information and supporting documents you submit from your personal account are compared with the information we receive from financial institutions. If the two sets of data match up, your claim is approved and you will be asked to provide your bank details so that the money may be transferred. If more supporting documents to back up your claim prove necessary, you will be informed of this by email. All you then need do is attach the new documents using your personal account. If the two sets of data do not match up, your claim will be rejected and you will be explained the reasons for this.
Your claim cannot be modified once it has been submitted. That said, if Caisse des Dépôts needs additional information in order to process your claim, you will be sent an email to that effect and all you then need do is attach the new documents using your personal account.
Caisse des Dépôts’ employees have the same information as the one that appears in your personal account. The processing of your application will be notified to you by e-mail.
Caisse des Dépôts does not charge any fees or commissions on the amounts it holds.
Caisse des Dépôts' banking activities are governed by the law. Only certain professions are allowed to open an account with Caisse des Dépôts, which does not offer personal bank accounts for households.
If the services of a solicitor/notary are called for, it is they who must create a personal account and take your claim in hand. You cannot do anything further regarding the claim you initially submitted.
If your claim is successful, the sums will be transferred to the solicitor/notary, who will then see to it that they are passed onto you.
The intervention of a notary may be required if my request is part of an estate and depending on the amount. In this case, the notary will be responsible for creating a personal space and managing your request. The request you initiated cannot be processed by our services and will be closed. If the notary's request is successful, the sums will be transferred to the notary who will then be responsible for returning them to you.
The older is alive
An account becomes dormant after a 12-month period during which both these conditions are met:
no customer-initiated transactions have been carried out using the account (which excludes the registration of interest and debits by the institution holding the account, fees and commissions of any kind or payment of products or reimbursement of equity or debt securities)
the account holder or his/her legal representative or duly authorised person to act on his/her behalf has not made contact, in whatever form this may take, with this institution or carried out any transactions on another account open in his/her name on the institution's books.
This 12-month period is extended to five years for time deposit accounts, savings accounts and accounts in which securities or assets and deposits as savings products have been registered.
An account becomes dormant if all of the other accounts held in the same institution are also dormant.
e.g.
For one year, Pierre did not use his current account at ABC bank, and his adviser did not hear anything from him. However, he did transfer some money from his Livret A savings account which he had also opened at ABC bank. This means that neither his current account nor his Livret A savings account became dormant. Léa's company savings scheme (PEE) came to the end of its fixed term (when it could not be accessed) five years ago but, since this date, Léa has not touched it and the institution where this scheme was held has not heard anything from her. Her PEE scheme has therefore become dormant.
The holder has died
The account becomes dormant after a 12-month period during which no entitled party has informed the institution holding the account of his/her intention to claim the assets and deposits therein.
e.g.:
Sophie's grandma died a year ago and she is her only heir. Since her grandma's death though, Sophie has not contacted the bank where her grandma had opened several accounts. These accounts have therefore become dormant.
In both cases (whether the holder is alive or has deceased), the dormant account initially remains at the original institution. But if the account lies dormant for ten years while the holder is alive, or three years when s/he has deceased, the institution closes the account and transfers any sums from it to Caisse des Dépôts.
To find out more, have a look at:
- Les Clés de la banque, un site de la Fédération Bancaire Française (FBF) : http://www.lesclesdelabanque.com/Web/Cdb/Particuliers/Content.nsf/DocumentsByIDWeb/8TMDBB?OpenDocument
- Assurance banque épargne Info Service, un site de l’ACPR, de la Banque de France et de l’AMF : http://www.abe-infoservice.fr/banque/fonctionnement-du-compte/comptes-inactifs-et-comptes-de-personnes-decedees.html
Yes, your company savings scheme (PEE) can become dormant. The conditions are the same as for an account. Note, however, that the dormancy period only begins from the end of the fixed term, i.e. the interval during which you are unable to access any sums in your PEE (this is generally five years, save in the event of withdrawals allowed in exceptional circumstances).
N.B: profit-sharing incentives and participation bonuses which have not been paid into a company savings scheme and were deposited at Caisse des Dépôts before 2016 do not come within the scope of the Eckert Act. This means that they cannot be accessed from this website. To find out more, have a look at https://consignations.caissedesdepots.fr/particulier/recuperer-votre-argent-consigne/recuperez-votre-participation-salariale
"Dormant accounts" refer to:
- Current accounts
- Savings accounts
E.g : company savings schemes, share savings plan (PEA), Livrets A, Livrets de développement durable (LDD), home ownership savings schemes (PEL), home ownership savings accounts (CEL), passbook savings accounts for low-income households, tax-friendly long-term savings accounts (PEP), savings schemes for young people, share savings plans aimed at financing SMEs or tax-friendly savings schemes for forestry owners.
- Securities accounts
E.g : equity securities issued by joint-stock companies, debt securities (excluding negotiable instruments and cash certificates), shares or stock of collective investment bodies. These securities accounts may be held by a common investment fund, real-estate investment fund, corporate real-estate investment fund or common securitisation fund
- Passbook accounts
- Time deposit accounts
Caisse des Dépôts does not receive dormant safe deposit boxes. Get in touch with the institution holding the safe deposit box you are looking for.
For more information, you can have a look at Assurance banque épargne Info Service, a website of the ACPR, Banque de France and AMF: http://www.abe-infoservice.fr/banque/fonctionnement-du-compte/coffres-forts-inactifs.html
- If the policyholder is alive
The life insurance policy is declared unclaimed if it expires and neither the policyholder, insured person nor beneficiary(ies) step up to claim the capital sitting in it.
E.g.: Eric did not claim the capital from his life insurance policy when it expired. The policy was therefore declared unclaimed.
- If the policyholder has died
The life insurance policy is declared unclaimed when the insurance company becomes aware of the date of the policyholder's death.
E.g: The life insurance policy is declared unclaimed when the insurance company becomes aware of the date of the policyholder's death.
In both cases (whether the policyholder is alive or deceased), the unclaimed life insurance policy initially remains with the insurance company which tries to track down the beneficiary(ies). But if the life insurance policy remains unclaimed for ten years, the insurance company closes it and transfers any sums from it to Caisse des Dépôts.
To find out more, have a look at:Assurance banque épargne Info Service, un site de l’ACPR, de la Banque de France et de l’AMF : http://www.abe-infoservice.fr/assurance/assurance-vie/les-contrats-dassurance-vie-en-desherence.html
Safe deposit boxes, government bonds, PTT bonds, treasury bonds, bearer bonds, savings bonds, mortgage bonds and perpetual annuities (through bearer securities) are not transferred to Caisse des Dépôts.
They are therefore not covered by this service.
Lorsque votre compte devient inactif ou votre contrat d’assurance-vie non réclamé, votre banque ou votre assureur vous envoie un courrier chaque année pour vous prévenir de l'inactivité de votre compte ou de votre contrat. Pour « réactiver » votre compte ou votre contrat, contactez votre établissement financier dès que vous recevez ce courrier. Vous éviterez ainsi le transfert de votre argent à la Caisse des Dépôts.
To claim your money back before it is transferred to Caisse des Dépôts, "reactivate" your account or policy by contacting your financial institution at the earliest possible opportunity.
When an account becomes dormant, it initially remains with the bank. But if it remains dormant for ten years while the holder is still alive, or three years once s/he has deceased, the bank closes the account and transfers any sums from it to Caisse des Dépôts.
To claim your money back before it is transferred to Caisse des Dépôts, it is important to contact your bank during this ten- or three-year timeframe.
When a life insurance policy is declared unclaimed, it initially remains with the insurance company. But if it remains unclaimed for ten years, the insurance company closes it and transfers any sums from it to Caisse des Dépôts.
To claim your money back before it is transferred to Caisse des Dépôts, it is important to contact your insurance company during this ten-year timeframe.
- Your money was transferred to Caisse des Dépôts in 2016
In 2016, the sums transferred by financial institutions to Caisse des Dépôts came from life insurance policies or accounts that had not seen any activity for three to 29 years. Caisse des Dépôts keeps these sums for one to 27 years.
If you have reason to believe your money was transferred to Caisse des Dépôts in 2016, we recommend that you carry out a search for it at the earliest possible opportunity. For when a life insurance policy or account has remained dormant for 30 years, any sums from it are transferred irreversibly to the State. In this case it is no longer possible to claim this money back.
- Your money was transferred to Caisse des Dépôts after 2016
Any sums transferred after 2016 by financial institutions are kept by Caisse des Dépôts for:
- 20 years for accounts whose holders are alive
- 10 years for accounts whose holders are deceased
- 10 years for Home Ownership Savings Schemes (PEL), when the holder does not have any other accounts open in the same bank
- 20 years for life insurance policies, whether the policyholder is alive or has deceased.
Make sure you search for your account or life insurance policy before it has lain dormant for a full 30 years! For when a life insurance policy or account has remained dormant for 30 years, any sums from it are transferred irreversibly to the State. In this case it is no longer possible to claim this money back.
Caisse des Dépôts does not try to track down the beneficiaries of accounts and policies it receives.
It is up to the potential beneficiaries to search for the latter on Ciclade.fr, to find out whether Caisse des Dépôts has received any sums they are rightfully owed. Where applicable, they can then ask for these sums to be returned by furnishing the requisite supporting documents
If your life insurance policy remains unclaimed or your account dormant for 30 years (it is first kept at the financial institution before being transferred to Caisse des Dépôts), any sums from it are transferred irreversibly to the State. This is what's known as the thirty-year forfeiture period. In this case it is no longer possible to claim this money back.
E.g.: Camille's account lies dormant for ten years. Her bank transfers it to Caisse des Dépôts, which keeps it for 20 years. If Camille has still not come forward to claim her money by the end of this 30-year period (ten years at the bank then 20 years at Caisse des Dépôts), it is irreversibly transferred to the State.
Make sure you contact your financial institution or enter a search on Ciclade.fr before it's too late!
Contactez la banque ou l’organisme d’assurance qui détenait votre compte ou votre contrat. Vous saurez ainsi s’il a atteint 30 ans d’inactivité et s’il a été transféré à l’Etat ou aux Collectivités d'Outre-Mer (Nouvelle-Calédonie, Polynésie Française, Wallis et Futuna) de façon définitive.
ING Bank shut down its activity targeting private individuals in France on 31/12/2022. Amounts on certain accounts not recovered by holders were consigned with the Caisse des Dépôts in January 2024. These amounts are kept safe while waiting for beneficiaries to search for them and request their return on the ciclade.fr website ; for more information, click here
If you do not find these amounts, please contact ING France by clicking HERE
- Vous avez reçu un courrier
A partir du moment où votre compte devient inactif ou votre contrat d’assurance-vie non réclamé, votre banque ou votre assureur vous envoie un courrier chaque année pour vous prévenir. Pour « réactiver » votre compte ou votre contrat, contactez votre établissement financier dès que vous recevez ce courrier. Vous éviterez ainsi le transfert de votre argent à la Caisse des Dépôts.
- Vous n’avez pas reçu de courrier
Si vous n’avez pas reçu de courrier mais que vous avez un doute, contactez votre établissement financier dès maintenant.
Si votre recherche concerne un contrat d’assurance-vie dont le souscripteur est décédé depuis moins de 10 ans, contactez l’AGIRA, avec le formulaire http://formulaireassvie.agira.asso.fr/ Elle relaiera votre demande auprès de toutes les compagnies d’assurance.
Si votre recherche concerne un compte mais que vous ne savez pas dans quelle banque il était ouvert, lancez une recherche sur Ciclade.fr. Vous saurez si la Caisse des Dépôts a reçu des sommes qui vous reviennent. Et vous pourrez, le cas échéant, demander leur restitution en fournissant des pièces justificatives.
If your relative died within the last ten years, contact the Association for the management of information on insurance risk, AGIRA. This association will pass your request onto all of the insurance companies.
If your relative died more than ten years ago, carry out a search on Ciclade.fr. You will find out if Caisse des Dépôts has received any sums that should come to you. Where applicable, you can then ask for them to be returned by furnishing the requisite supporting documents.
Contact the Association for the management of information on insurance risk (AGIRA) if you are trying to track down a life insurance policy that belonged to someone who died within the last ten years and you don't know which insurance company initially opened this policy.
A partir du moment où votre compte devient inactif, votre banque vous envoie un courrier chaque année pour vous prévenir. Pour « réactiver » votre compte, contactez votre banque dès que vous recevez ce courrier. Vous éviterez ainsi le transfert de votre argent à la Caisse des Dépôts.
Si vous n’avez pas reçu de courrier mais que vous vous demandez si votre compte est devenu inactif, rapprochez-vous de votre banque.
Pour un compte ouvert il y a longtemps, il est aussi possible que vous ne vous souveniez plus du nom de la banque. Lancez une recherche sur Ciclade.fr. Vous saurez si la Caisse des Dépôts a reçu des sommes qui vous reviennent et vous pourrez, le cas échéant, demander leur restitution en fournissant des pièces justificatives.