The UIF is becoming increasingly popular in South Africa and the government have registered over 20,000 contributing members to this system the benefits that are attached to it are numerous. The UIF has been very helpful and many people are benefitting from this program that the government has been able to come up with.

Does UIF Money Expire if not claimed?

The current economic situation in South Africa has made the government think of a method that will be beneficial to the citizens. The government has been able to come up with the UIF system which stands for Unemployment Insurance Fund and this system has benefits that are divided into several categories. It consists of unemployment benefits, maternity benefits, adoption benefits, illness benefits and survivor/dependent benefits.

Every one of these benefits has procedures that are needed for it to come through and you must be part of the UIF program and contribute the mandatory 1% of your salary monthly. The UIF program has been designed in such a way that the benefits that are involved must be earned and if anyone that is contributing runs into problems or issues that is related to any of the categories that have been stated here an amount of money will be allocated to the individual so he/she will not be stranded during those times as the individual will be off work.

This is a very good initiative by the government and if you are part of those contributing you will be entitled to your benefits in no time. There are some rules that you will need to follow while partaking in the UIF program and once you can stick to them there will be no complaints or issues.

For the UIF money to expire, it will have to take some time and you will have to act on things fast so that you won’t lose out on the benefits that you have working for. Claiming UIF money can be done in so many ways, now the question here is does UIF money expire if not claimed? If the money is not claimed, it is transferred to an unclaimed benefits fund. You can still access this account through the proper channels. However, some funds’ rules state that the amount must be written back after a set duration.

All of this depends on the duration of years that you stopped working or the duration of time that you fall into any of those categories. In terms of unemployment for claiming unemployment benefits, you must apply to the department of labour within six months for unemployment benefits and then make your claim within the period of 238 depending on how long you have been contributing to the UIF. There are several rules to claiming unemployment benefits and this states that you cannot claim if you resign from your job but you can claim if you were on a contract that ended as long as the employer terminated the services.

To claim the benefits of the UIF you will need to register as a work seeker with the department of labour means that any suitable and available employment will be given to you so you will not be unemployed for too long. Looking at the benefits of all of this, you can see that you are the one to gain from every of these.

There are certain rules and regulations you will have to follow while doing the UIF program all of this is possible so that you will not lose your benefit and even when death occurs your family can take your benefit in your place which should be before retirement. If during your working life you never claim for UIF, either because you’ve not elected to do so, or because you have never qualified for UIF benefits in terms of the principles of the Unemployment Insurance Act – then no benefit will be due to you and the contributions made during your period of employment will not be due to you either.

You cannot claim UIF under the following circumstances: If you were suspended from your job because you committed fraud; If you refused training or advice; If you already qualify for a benefit from an unemployment fund under the Labour Relations Act; and If you are receiving benefits from any other scheme established by the Labour Relations Act; If you quit your job. One thing you should have in mind is that in the case of retirement you will receive retirement benefits will be granted to you but you will not be entitled to the money from the UIF that you have contributed for years. You will just have to put all of this in mind and know the rules which will make you understand the UIF better.

When it comes to dependent benefits, the right to claim expires six (6) months after the deceased passing. The UIF pays a certain percentage of the wage/salary that you earned while contributing to it and the highest amount that you can be paid is 58% of what you can earn by the day, the amount that you will be paid is determined differently which solely depends on your salary.

If you earn less than R12 478 a month, you will receive about 36% to 56% of your average monthly salary from the past four years. The higher your salary, the lower the percentage that you will get back. If you earn more than R12 478 a month, you will receive a fixed monthly benefit of between R4 250 and R4 550. If you take your time to study more about the UIF you will see that there is much to know about it. It is important you get all the needed information so you won’t start lodging complaints for any little error that you encounter.

Finally

We have given you all the information that you need to know if the UIF money will expire if not be claimed. There are lots of things to know about this program and important information has been talked about here.