NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — Tennessee’s Department of Treasury returned around $63 million to Tennesseans, many of whom didn’t know they were owed it, after 78,000 claims through the state’s unclaimed property program this past fiscal year.
The money is turned over to the state by businesses, organizations, and other groups that were unable to find the rightful owner. They have a certain amount of time to locate whoever the property belongs to before they hand it over to the state to be returned through the unclaimed property program.
“Examples of unclaimed property would be a utility refund, maybe a lost paycheck; maybe an insurance refund, things that should have been returned to you in the first place but never reached you,” Shelli King, the director of communications for the Tennessee Department of Treasury said.
According to King, the Tennessee Department of Treasury’s unclaimed property program launched in the 1970s. Today, there is more than $940 million in cash waiting to be claimed by the rightful owners.
“At first [when people found out about the program] it was kind of a disbelief; ‘Is this real?’” King said. “But the more and more people learn about the program and understand it, it’s really a joy. ‘I’m so excited to find this,’ because a lot of it is money they didn’t even know they were owed.”
While the dollar amount returned this past fiscal year was slightly less than what was returned the previous year, the number of claims filed went up, likely due to a new portal launch that made it easier to file claims, according to King.
“I think the ease of claiming means people are going ahead and claiming those lower dollar claims,” King said. “They’re claiming the $25, $15 claims that maybe they wouldn’t have bothered about doing a few years ago.”
The Tennessee Department of Treasury has traveled across the state to different events to help people, like Pamela Routh who received $1,285.26 in unclaimed property, claim money owed to them.
“About $1,200 later, my mother’s estate had, from 10 years she’s been dead, this much money in an insurance thing built up from small dividends, and who would’ve thought?” Routh said to the TN Dept. of Treasury.
It’s free to claim the money through the state. Click here, or type “ClaimItTN.gov” in your browser and search your name.
Tennessee’s unclaimed property is mostly money. The only tangible items the state works to return to its owners through the program are military medals and military decorations.
