Latest news with #unclaimedmoney
Daily Mail
2 days ago
- Business
- Daily Mail
New property law to divvy out $83 million to Arkansas residents
Thousands of Americans could soon find surprise checks arriving in their mailboxes thanks to a new state law aimed at reuniting residents with unclaimed money - without them having to lift a finger. Act 114 of 2025, which went into effect last week, allows the Arkansas State Auditor's office to automatically return property valued at less than $5,000 to its rightful owner if they live in the state and the auditor 'reasonably believes' it belongs to them - even if they never filed a claim. State Auditor Dennis Milligan says the change means the agency will start sending out nearly $83 million in unclaimed property to around 360,000 people in the coming months, with the average payout expected to be just over $100. 'The next two or three months is going to be a lot of fun for Arkansans, because the checks will start going out,' Milligan told the MH Observer. 'This program is very, very important to me. You know, $200 might not mean anything to one person, but it may mean the difference between being able to pay a utility bill or … put[ting] some food on the table.' One in four Arkansans has money sitting in the unclaimed property program, which the auditor's office manages alongside its other duties. In total, the office holds around $400 million in unclaimed assets - money that can come from abandoned checking accounts, uncashed rebate checks, insurance adjustments, and even unclaimed wages. Milligan says he's had his own small payday from the program: 'I got 20 bucks here a while back off of some kind of rebate. The office maintains a catalog of items from abandoned safe deposit boxes, including a World War II-era telegram referencing Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower, a $10,000 bill, and signed Nolan Ryan baseball cards. Until now, reclaiming any amount - even a few dollars - required filling out paperwork and verifying identity. But Republican Sen. Dave Wallace of Leachville, who sponsored the bill, said Milligan approached him last year with the idea to streamline the process. 'The state has $238 that belongs to either me, or my wife, Karen, from some event a couple years ago. I didn't even know about it,' Wallace told the MH Observer. 'And there's going to be thousands and tens of thousands of Arkansans in that same situation.' The auditor's office will use software to confirm identities and addresses before mailing checks, with letters going out first to alert recipients. As long as the notice isn't returned as undeliverable, the check will follow a few weeks later. 'I mean, who can argue about Arkansans getting their money back?' Milligan said. 'I haven't had anybody complain yet.' The automatic payments only apply to amounts under $5,000. Anyone owed more than that - or with physical property or jointly held assets - will still need to file a claim through the state's unclaimed property database. Milligan still encourages residents to check the online database from time to time, noting that even Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders has unclaimed property listed in her name.
Daily Mail
2 days ago
- Business
- Daily Mail
$83m cash bonanza as surprise checks sent to residents in red state
Thousands of Americans could soon find surprise checks arriving in their mailboxes thanks to a new state law aimed at reuniting residents with unclaimed money - without them having to lift a finger. Act 114 of 2025, which went into effect last week, allows the Arkansas State Auditor's office to automatically return property valued at less than $5,000 to its rightful owner if they live in the state and the auditor 'reasonably believes' it belongs to them - even if they never filed a claim. State Auditor Dennis Milligan says the change means the agency will start sending out nearly $83 million in unclaimed property to around 360,000 people in the coming months, with the average payout expected to be just over $100. 'The next two or three months is going to be a lot of fun for Arkansans, because the checks will start going out,' Milligan told the MH Observer. 'This program is very, very important to me. You know, $200 might not mean anything to one person, but it may mean the difference between being able to pay a utility bill or … put[ting] some food on the table.' One in four Arkansans has money sitting in the unclaimed property program, which the auditor's office manages alongside its other duties. In total, the office holds around $400 million in unclaimed assets - money that can come from abandoned checking accounts, uncashed rebate checks, insurance adjustments, and even unclaimed wages. Milligan says he's had his own small payday from the program: 'I got 20 bucks here a while back off of some kind of rebate. 'A former employer tried to send you your last check, and they couldn't find you, so they forwarded it to us. It's a multitude of different reasons why we get sent this money.' While much of the unclaimed property is cash, some is far more unusual. The office maintains a catalog of items from abandoned safe deposit boxes, including a World War II-era telegram referencing Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower, a $10,000 bill, and signed Nolan Ryan baseball cards. Until now, reclaiming any amount - even a few dollars - required filling out paperwork and verifying identity. But Republican Sen. Dave Wallace of Leachville, who sponsored the bill, said Milligan approached him last year with the idea to streamline the process. 'The state has $238 that belongs to either me, or my wife, Karen, from some event a couple years ago. I didn't even know about it,' Wallace told the MH Observer. 'And there's going to be thousands and tens of thousands of Arkansans in that same situation.' The auditor's office will use software to confirm identities and addresses before mailing checks, with letters going out first to alert recipients. As long as the notice isn't returned as undeliverable, the check will follow a few weeks later. 'I mean, who can argue about Arkansans getting their money back?' Milligan said. 'I haven't had anybody complain yet.' The automatic payments only apply to amounts under $5,000. Anyone owed more than that - or with physical property or jointly held assets - will still need to file a claim through the state's unclaimed property database. Milligan still encourages residents to check the online database from time to time, noting that even Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders has unclaimed property listed in her name.
The Independent
06-08-2025
- Business
- The Independent
Thousands flock to website that helps reunite people with ‘lost' cash windfalls
Thousands of people have flocked to a website that helps to reunite people with 'lost' pots of cash. The My Lost Account service received more than 75,000 visits on Tuesday, according to finance and banking industry body UK Finance, which runs the service. The website, which helps to reunite people with lost bank and building society accounts and NS&I products typically receives about 1,000 visits per day. A notice was placed on the website, saying that registration confirmation, login code and password reset emails may take longer than usual, due to 'high volumes of user registrations to the website'. The website did not go down but the note was published as there were some issues with registrations. In July, savings giant NS&I disclosed that more than 2.5 million Premium Bond prizes worth more than £103 million remained unclaimed. This included 11 £100,000 prizes, 19 £50,000 prizes, 38 £25,000 prizes and 75 prizes of £10,000. Several news articles have recently been running on the topic. An NS&I spokesperson said on Wednesday: 'We often see increased demand for these services when there is heightened publicity around NS&I products.' NS&I said previously that in the financial year 2024-25, more than £166 million was reunited through 52,693 NS&I accounts for holders who had lost touch with their savings and investments, thanks to NS&I's tracing service and My Lost Account. The free My Lost Account Service is available for tracing UK-based personal accounts. My Lost Account aims to help those who do not know the provider that holds their account. Its website says that if someone is aware of the bank or building society that holds their account, or if they are aware of the NS&I account or any Premium Bond or other product numbers, they should approach the organisations directly. The website says people should 'not pay a fee of any kind' to undertake the search for their lost bank, building society or NS&I account. Consumer group Which? has previously called for NS&I to sign up to the Government's Tell Us Once service, to help simplify the process of notifying different organisations after a death. NS&I said previously that it is not part of the service, which it said 'focuses on updating government departments that provide services such as benefits, passports and pensions, rather than banking services and investments, which often require more individualised contact with executors'. The Treasury-backed provider said earlier this week: 'We recognise that dealing with bereavement can be challenging and are committed to making our services as easy to use as possible, especially during difficult events such as the death of a loved one.'
The Independent
22-07-2025
- Business
- The Independent
Could you be sitting on a cash windfall? £103m in Premium Bond prizes unclaimed
Thousands of people have had cash windfalls due to being reunited with Premium Bond winnings and other cash savings accounts, according to figures from NS&I. But more people could be sitting on money that they are unaware of. As of June 2025, more than 2.5 million Premium Bond prizes worth more than £103 million remain unclaimed. This includes 11 £100,000 prizes, 19 £50,000 prizes, 38 £25,000 prizes and 75 prizes of £10,000. NS&I said that in the financial year 2024-25, more than £166 million was reunited through 52,693 NS&I accounts for holders who had lost touch with their savings and investments, thanks to NS&I's tracing service and My Lost Account. This includes more than £120 million in Premium Bonds savings and unclaimed prizes, £11.4 million paid out from old savings certificates and £1.3 million from old children's bonus bonds. In 2024-25 more than £6.2 million from 192,071 previously unclaimed Premium Bonds prizes was paid out to 51,310 Bond holders, either through tracing services, customers updating their details or checking for unclaimed prizes. NS&I has successfully paid out over 99% of all Premium Bonds prizes to its winners since 1957. It highlighted the importance of customers updating their details and opting to have Premium Bond prizes paid directly into their bank accounts. Andrew Westhead, NS&I's retail director, said: 'These figures are a timely reminder to update your details, talk to your loved ones about your savings and make sure your money stays firmly in your hands, both now and in the future.' Premium Bond prizes are considered by NS&I to be 'unclaimed' after 18 months, but there is no time limit to claiming them. NS&I defines unclaimed assets as holdings in closed products and assets kept in open products where there have been no customer financial transactions for a period of 15 years or more. Sarah Coles, head of personal finance, Hargreaves Lansdown, said: 'Eleven people in the UK have £100,000 with their name on it, just sitting, collecting dust, in the vaults at NS&I. 'They're among an eye-watering £103 million worth of unclaimed Premium Bond prizes, so it's worth checking whether you've already won big. ' People tend to get separated from their accounts when they move house and forget to update their address with all the companies they hold money with. 'It's not just Premium Bonds, vast sums of savings, investments and pensions go astray this way too. It's why in the first few weeks after you have moved in, it's essential to make a list of everything you hold, and methodically work your way through contacting every company to let them know your new address. 'It can also make sense to consider consolidating accounts so you don't have so many to keep track of in future. 'The easiest way to avoid losing track of Premium Bond prizes is to have your winnings automatically paid into your bank account – or automatically used to buy more bonds.' NS&I, which is backed by the Treasury, has some tips for people to stay on top of their savings and prizes: 1. Keep contact details up-to-date. This can be done on NS&I's website. 2. To prevent Premium Bond prizes going unclaimed, customers can choose to have winnings paid directly into their bank account, or automatically reinvested into more Premium Bonds, with nine in 10 prizes now paid in these ways. 3. Balances can be checked on the NS&I app, and Premium Bond wins can be checked on the prize checker app. 4. Old NS&I bonds, certificates, passbooks or account paperwork can often be found tucked away in drawers or among old documents. Customers who find forgotten savings are encouraged to use NS&I's tracing service to locate any funds due to them.
Free Malaysia Today
17-05-2025
- Business
- Free Malaysia Today
RM13.3bil in unclaimed money as of April
Accountant-General Nor Yati Ahmad revealed that since the establishment of the unclaimed money system in 1977, only about RM4 billion had been successfully claimed by the rightful owners or their heirs. (Facebook pic) PETALING JAYA : A total of RM13.3 billion in unclaimed money was recorded by the accountant-general's department until last month. Accountant-General Nor Yati Ahmad revealed that since the establishment of the unclaimed money system in 1977, only about RM4 billion had been successfully claimed by the rightful owners or their heirs, Bernama reported. She said this situation likely occurred because many individuals or their heirs were either unaware that they had unclaimed money or had never taken the initiative to check with the accountant-general's department. 'They can actually check or submit a claim application via the official portal, or the eGumis app, and go to our branches in each state. 'We will also continue to intensify promotions and field activities to publicise the existence of this unclaimed money because it can only be issued to the owner or heir,' she told reporters after opening the Kampung Angkat Madani and Santuni Madani programme in Batu Pahat today.
