Hey, Binghamton! Is NYS Holding On to Money That Belongs to You?

Who knew? Apparently, I have unclaimed money waiting for me from the Vermont Lottery Commission, Erie Insurance, the State of Pennsylvania department of revenue, and from K-Mart (although, good luck getting back those bucks). The grand total of my unclaimed funds? $47.02.

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I'm not going to pooh-pooh $47.02 because that's about what it costs these days to fill up my small sedan with gas. With the price of things what they are these days, I'm more than happy to print and fill out a couple of forms and pay $0.55 for a stamp if it means getting back money that is rightfully owed to me.

Did you know that at this very moment there are $32.9 BILLION dollars just sitting unclaimed because people have no idea it's waiting for them to take ownership of it? New York is responsible for a huge chunk of that $32.9 billion dollar number with $13 billion of those dollars unclaimed by New York state residents.

Why Does Money Go Unclaimed?

In many cases, such as mine, people have no idea that there's something waiting for them unless someone gives them the heads up that they should search to find out. I haven't lived in Lancaster, Pennsylvania for eight years, but discovered that in 2014, two years after I moved away, Erie Insurance attempted to send me a check. Something as simple as a move or a change of address can mean that paperwork doesn't find its way to the rightful owner and there it sits.

What Types of Funds Might Go Unclaimed?

In my case, it seems that I had some sort of win with the Vermont lottery. I haven't lived in Vermont in 18 years and don't even remember playing the lottery while I lived there. The State of Pennsylvania claims it has tax refund money to send to me which I find interesting because I am registered as a resident of Pennsylvania and actually live in the state. I'm really not hard to find. But, a lot of times when there's a move, states won't dig too deep to track people down to give them their owed money. Other unclaimed funds include tax refunds, child support payments, abandoned safe deposit box contents, insurance refunds, and more.

How To Find Out if I'm Owed Unclaimed Funds

While the United States government doesn't have one central website where all the information about all of the unclaimed funds is stored, they do have a comprehensive list of places where you can pop in some information, click a button, and in a matter of seconds learn if there's money or unclaimed property with your name on it. You can access that information on the USA.Gov website here.

Fingers crossed that you discover that you're the rightful owner of a big vat of money!