The insurance industry is writing to life assurance customers to reunite them with up to €20 million in unclaimed policies.

An estimated €10-€20 million in unclaimed life assurance policies will be transferred from insurance companies to the National Treasury Management Agency (NTMA) if customers do not come forward before March 31st, 2004.

The Irish Insurance Federation (IIF) has published notices in the press advising the policy-owners and beneficiaries of dormant policies to reactivate or claim policies before this deadline. Individual insurers are expected to write to policyholders over the coming months.

Once transferred to the NTMA, the policy proceeds will be invested and used for social purposes. However, owners and beneficiaries who come forward after this time will still be able to access and encash their policies.

The Unclaimed Life Assurance Policies Act, 2003, requires insurers to try to contact policyholders with whom they have lost contact over the years. There is no time limit in the new legislation, which became effective last month. In some cases, the person entitled to receive policy proceeds may be the heir of the original policyholder.

Life assurance policies are deemed unclaimed where there has been no communication from the customer for five years in the case of policies where there was a lump sum payable at the end of a fixed term and 15 years in the case of policies that have an encashment value but no specific term.

The IIF has published a consumer information leaflet and a list of telephone numbers of insurers on its website, www.iif. Consumers can also ring the IIF's helpline at 01-6761914.