(INDIANAPOLIS) – Attorney General Curtis Hill returned $61.01 million in unclaimed property during 2018 – $2.1 million more than the amount returned in 2017.
“Our responsibility to collect, hold and disperse unclaimed property sets us apart from attorneys general across the rest of the United States,” Attorney General Hill said. “We take this role very seriously and work aggressively every single day to return unclaimed property to its rightful owners.”
To reach owners of unclaimed property, the Office of the Attorney General uses mailings; social media; online and print advertisements; and local media coverage. Staff members crisscrossing the state in the Attorney General’s Mobile Operations Center (MOC) also help constituents search for unclaimed money. During 2018, in fact, staff members with the MOC helped Hoosiers find $430,030 in unclaimed money on the Unclaimed Property Division’s online database.
In the spring of 2018, the Unclaimed Property Division (UPD) upgraded to a more streamlined claiming process to make the experience more efficient for claimants. Internally, the changes have enabled the claim review process to go paperless, allowing for a more fluid and trackable system.
Unclaimed property refers to any financial asset with no activity by its owner for an extended period of time. This includes unclaimed wages or commissions; savings and checking accounts; stock dividends; insurance proceeds; underlying shares; customer deposits or overpayments; certificates of deposit; credit balances; refunds; money orders; and safe deposit box contents. Organizations holding potential unclaimed property are expected to make every possible effort to contact the owner before reporting the assets to the state in which the owner was last known to reside.
In 2018, the UPD received $126 million in unclaimed property – $29 million more than the amount received in 2017.
For more information on unclaimed property – and to search by name for assets waiting to be claimed – log onto indianaunclaimed.gov.
