A growing number of National Pension Service subscribers are losing money they are entitled to get back because they never filed a claim. Next year, more than 2,300 members are expected to forfeit the right to recover an average of about 1.71 million won each. Claims expire if they are not filed within 10 years of the date a refund becomes payable.
Ten-Year Deadline Looms for 2,355 Members Next Year
Data submitted by the National Pension Service to Lee So-hee, a lawmaker of the People Power Party who sits on the National Assembly's Health and Welfare Committee, showed on the 16th that 2,355 subscribers are expected to see their lump-sum refund claims expire next year.
The unclaimed amount totals 4.019 billion won, or about 1.71 million won per person. If the claims are not filed before the deadline, the money stays in the National Pension Fund as surplus assets.
The lump-sum refund is a payment of all contributions plus interest to subscribers who fail to meet the 10-year minimum contribution period required to draw a pension.
Members become eligible once a refund event occurs, such as reaching pension age, but the money is not deposited automatically. Subscribers must file a claim themselves, and the right to do so generally lapses 10 years after the refund event.
The number of members whose claims expire before they collect the money has been rising.
In 2024, 764 people lost the right to claim a refund, and the figure rose to 946 last year. In the first half of this year alone, 646 people reached the expiration threshold.
182.9 Billion Won Unclaimed by More Than 65,000 People
Even among those whose deadlines have not yet passed, a large number have left their refunds unclaimed.
Service data showed that 65,527 people became eligible for a lump-sum refund between 2020 and the first half of this year — through reaching pension age or other qualifying events — but did not file a claim. The unpaid amount comes to 182.9 billion won in total.
The issue is that the service does not release the money without an application, even though it already knows who is eligible and how much each person is owed.
The service currently notifies members about refund claims by mail and text message. It does not, however, operate an automatic payment system that would verify a subscriber's bank account and pay out without a separate application.
That leaves open the risk that subscribers who are unaware of their entitlement, or who miss the notices, will let the deadline pass.
'Not an Application Rule, but Neglect': Calls for Automatic Payment
Critics have also called for a change in how the refunds are paid.
Kim Sung-joo, chairman of the National Pension Service, wrote on social media in January that "it is strange that contributions are taken out without any application, yet pension payments require one."
An automatic payment system was later introduced for old-age pensions and other benefits, but lump-sum refunds were left out.
Lee criticized the service for allowing entitlements to lapse on the grounds that no application was filed, even though it knows who is eligible, how much is owed and when each claim expires.
She called the practice "not an application rule, but neglect."
Lee said she had used this year's parliamentary audit of government agencies to demand the results of outreach to the 2,355 members whose claims expire next year, along with a review of adding lump-sum refunds to the automatic payment program.
She also said she would keep monitoring whether the service follows through after the audit ends.
People eligible for a lump-sum refund should check whether they can file a claim before the deadline passes. Those who have reached pension age with less than 10 years of contributions, in particular, should confirm whether they qualify.