Connecticut Treasurer Erick Russell encouraged state residents to find and claim their lost or forgotten money on Thursday (2/1) , the fourth annual National Unclaimed Property Day.
“Unclaimed Property Day is a great opportunity to see if you have property waiting to be returned,” said Treasurer Russell. “We want to get this money back to its rightful owners, where it belongs. Finding your property and filing a claim has never been simpler. Don’t let this become a forgotten opportunity to reunite with your unclaimed property.”
Connecticut’s official unclaimed property website is CTBigList.com. There is no cost to search for property or file claims and no time limit for rightful owners to do so. It’s estimated that one in seven Americans has unclaimed property waiting for them.
Lost or forgotten money and other property is handed over to the Connecticut Office of the Treasurer for safekeeping until it can be claimed by its rightful owners. This unclaimed property can include unpaid life insurance benefits, forgotten bank accounts, utility deposits and refunds, annuities, and more. Most unclaimed property owners are individuals, but corporations, municipalities, schools, nonprofits, hospitals, and small businesses are also among those who’ve found they have money owed to them.
Connecticut has returned more than $1 billion to rightful owners through the unclaimed property program. Technological and process improvements put in place over the last year have resulted in a marked increase in claims paid. In Fiscal Year 2023, $72 million was returned to 72,981 rightful owners, tripling claims paid over the prior year.
Treasurer Russell will be introducing legislation this year to further enhance the program’s ability to locate and contact potential owners and to guard consumers against scam attempts.
“It’s our goal to make finding your money and filing claims as easy as possible,” said Treasurer Russell. “We’ve made important progress in modernizing technology with more improvements to come. We’ve also expanded our outreach efforts for residents and local governments in partnership with stakeholders across the state. I’m proud of the work of our great Unclaimed Property team and our agencywide commitment to reuniting as many owners as possible with their funds.”
Through a partnership with the National Association of Unclaimed Property Administrators, the state also participates in a nationwide unclaimed property lookup tool, MissingMoney.com, that allows users to search for funds in multiple states.
“While there’s no time limit to claim your funds, I encourage everyone to make searching for unclaimed property part of your annual financial routine,” said Treasurer Russell. “Whether it’s your birthday, tax season, or National Unclaimed Property Day, find time at least once a year to search CTBigList.com and claim what’s yours so we can get your money back into your pocket.”
For more information, or to search for unclaimed property, visit CTBigList.com or call 800-833-7318.
