State holds millions in unclaimed property; Is any of it yours?

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Millions of dollars in unclaimed property is sitting in an account waiting for you to claim it.

“In Tennessee, unclaimed property is money that has been turned over from businesses that are not able to return it,” Treasury Department spokeswoman Shelli King said.

The amount is staggering.

“Currently in Tennessee, we are holding $789 million in unclaimed property,” King said.

King says the money could come from anywhere.

“It could be a doctor’s office, it could be a refund from a utility company, it could be a bank from a checking company you forgot you had opened,” King said.

The Tennessee Treasury Department is working daily to connect people in the Volunteer State with the money that belongs to them.

“First thing we do when money is handed over is we send a letter to the last known address that came over with that property,” King said.

If that doesn’t work, her department keeps going.

“The second thing we do is a Social Security match,” King said. “We take your Social Security number that came over with that property and we put it into a database so employers will get a match and say ‘hey, we got your Social Security number, and you have unclaimed money in Tennessee. Would you like to file a claim?'”

Last year, the state returned over $34 million with the average claim around $800.

King says the reason it hasn’t been returned already could come from a simple mistake.

“Often there was a reason it wasn’t returned correctly in the first place. Maybe the address was wrong. Maybe you had a P.O. box that you no longer use,” King said.

Don’t count yourself out. Looking to see if you have any money to claim starts with a simple click.

“You can do a search of your name, and if your name comes up you’ll see the last known address that was associated when that claim came to us, that piece of property,” King said.

In Madison County, there is more than $8.3 million waiting to be claimed, so we hit the Hub City to help put money in some pockets.

David White Body Shop has been in service for 35 years.

“We’re in the collision repair business,” owner David White said. “We do pretty much anything — automobile repair, collision repair, hail damage, that sort.”

The business had several claims, each one over $500.

“Normally I’m being told I owe money, so it’s refreshing to know I’m being told they owe me money instead,” White said.

In his case, most claims were money coming from insurance companies.

“Every little bit helps. Our overhead is so high, every little bit of income helps,” White said.

And the process? It’s easy as one, two, three.

What about those who doubt it’s real? “I think they need to go find out what’s there and recover that money,” White said.

Want to see if you are due any unclaimed money? Visit www.claimittn.gov.