This forgotten money includes share dividends, trust accounts, refunds, commissions, deceased estates and money from a range of other sources.

In Maitland and surrounding postcodes, there is hundreds of thousands of dollars waiting to be claimed.

NSW Minister for Finance and Small Business Damien Tudehope acknowledged many families across the state were struggling financially due to the ongoing effects of the COVID-19 stay-at-home orders.

Also in the news

"We know many people are doing it tough, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, with most households having to keep a close eye on their budget. This is why I am encouraging people to check their eligibility on the Revenue NSW website to see if you are owed any money, you could have hundreds or thousands of dollars that you didn't know about," Mr Tudehope said.

"The largest single amount held on the unclaimed money register is more than $1 million from a deceased estate in Cabramatta, while there are 10 amounts of more than $500,000 each, waiting to be collected by the rightful owners."

"Anyone can search for unclaimed money on the Revenue NSW website. It is a free service offered by the NSW Government to get money back into the hands of its owners."

The unclaimed money register holds money that has not made it to the correct owner for any number of reasons, including a change of address or name, misplaced paperwork or has simply been forgotten.

Revenue NSW periodically undertakes data matching activities and attempts to contact potential owners of new items received from enterprises.

The unclaimed money register can be found here https://www.revenue.nsw.gov.au/unclaimed-money/search

Do you know you can subscribe to get full access to all Maitland Mercury stories? Subscribing supports us in our local news coverage. To subscribe, click here.