After All That Holiday Spending, Check For Unclaimed Cash

December 29, 2014

UPSTATE, S.C. - If the hustle and bustle of the holiday shopping season now has you rushing to pay it all off, the State of South Carolina might be able to help. Its Unclaimed Property Program now sits at $458 million. The money comes from dormant bank accounts and other funds that have sat untouched for years.

"Deposits from utilities when you were in college, old paycheck when you forgot about it and went on to do something else," said State Treasurer Curtis Loftis. "It could be insurance settlements. It's amazing of the kind of money it could be."

And the state wants to give that money back to the rightful owners. You can search your name, a family member's name or your business online to see if you're owed any money.

A couple months ago, we met Kay McLanahan who found out she was owed money from several old accounts in her name.

"More than $100, I got at least $200 that's for sure," said McLanahan.

According to the SC Treasurer's Office, there is no time limit to claim your funds and no fee to collect them. It can take six to 12 weeks for you to get the money, though many claims are processed within a few weeks.

Loftis estimates about 25% of the South Carolina population is due some cash.

You can search in a national database to see if you're owed money in other states as well.

It's also important to prevent your money from ending up as unclaimed cash. The SC Treasurer's Office says don't delay when cashing checks for dividends, wages and insurance settlements. And if you move, notify businesses where you have accounts of your new
address.

See Tracey Early's video about the Palmetto Payback Program here.