Unclaimed Money

Overview

More than $30 billion are sitting in unclaimed bank accounts, savings plans, and unpaid insurance claims. These "lost-and-found" funds are not going anywhere any time soon since people do not always realize that they are missing money. As a result, unclaimed funds continue to sit in untouched accounts and may end up going to waste.

It might be worth your time to determine whether credit unions, banks, or government agencies owe you any money. While you probably won't get-rich-quick with a lost-and-found retirement account or tax refund, you might be able to locate anywhere from a few hundred to a few thousand dollars to help you pay some bills.

Consumer protection laws require state, federal, and independent agencies to maintain public databases of unclaimed money. Over the last decade, records have become more accessible through no-cost Internet resources that allow users to search databases for missing funds.

While free services are effective, individuals may benefit from conducting more in depth investigations by contacting banks, credit unions, and government agencies. It might help to conduct searches on behalf of deceased or living relatives to locate a missing inheritance. Not all databases are readily available online.

The following include examples of the most common types of missing funds:

Undelivered Tax Returns

According to the IRS, millions of dollars in tax refunds are sent back from undeliverable addresses. If you believe that you are owed a federal income tax return, you should check the status of your refund with the Federal government. On the IRS website, you can get a refund status based on your social security number, filing status, and refund amount.

Unclaimed Property

You may have inherited property or money from a relative who passed away. You may not realize that you are legally entitled to an inheritance.

The National Association of Unclaimed Property Administrators (NAUPA) can help you locate unclaimed property for free. MissngMoney.com is another resource available to help you find lost funds.

Retirement & Pension Funds

You may have worked somewhere for a short while without realizing that your company opened a retirement account or pension plan on your behalf. You may be accruing interest on these invested funds, and your earnings may be substantial - worth up to several thousands of dollars.

You may have lost retirement or pension funds when your company went bankrupt or if your account was transferred to another bank. Check with your former employer and their managing financial services firm if you believe that you were eligible for a pension plan or retirement fund.

For the most part, information regarding unclaimed retirement and pension funds is not available through state databases. If you are looking for unclaimed IRAs, pensions, or other retirement funds, you may want to check with PenChecks - a database that became available to the public in 2006. People can also research missing pension funds with the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC).

Profit Shares & Stock Purchase

Your company may have enrolled you in a profit sharing or stock purchase plan. Legally, your company needed your authorization to enroll you, but you may not have been aware of what you were signing. You also may have also forgotten about the funds. You should contact your previous employer if you think that you might have been enrolled in a profit-sharing plan.

Insurance Refunds

If you had a mortgage that was insured by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA), then you may be entitled to a refund from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). You can contact the HUD to determine whether you are eligible for a refund based on your name and case number.

Savings Bonds

It is possible to locate and recover missing savings bonds. You can contact TreasuryDirect to locate your bonds and have them replaced, if necessary. You can also use resources from TreasuryDirect to calculate the value of your paper savings bonds.

Bank Failures

The Federal Deport Insurance Corporation (FDIC) insures account holders at participating banks in the event of failure. If your bank fails, then you may be entitled to funds through the FDIC. If your bank has failed or liquidated its assets, make sure that you check in with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.

Credit Unions

The National Credit Union Administration is responsible for paying members in the event that a credit union with federal insurance is liquidated. Share accounts must be claimed within 18-months for the full benefit amount to be paid. Even uninsured shared may be covered.

Class Action Lawsuits

If you have invested in or done business with a company, you may be entitled to funds as part of a class-action settlement, if you were part of an affected group. Check with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to determine whether you are eligible for funds from a class action suit.