TENNESSEE, USA — Right now $1.1 billion is sitting unclaimed in the state of Tennessee. And some of that money might be yours!
"About 1 in 10 have unclaimed money," Tony Binkley with the Better Business Bureau said.
These "unclaimed funds" vary from a few bucks to possibly hundreds. It's your money, to begin with, you just need to claim it.
Where does this money come from?
Each year, the Tennessee treasury collects millions of dollars that come from overpaid bills, savings or checking accounts, uncashed dividends, and other various reasons.
"That money may come from an old bank account or a credit union or maybe the government owes you some money or insurance company something like that," explained Tony Binkley with the Better Business Bureau. That got delayed or you forgot about it and they tried to contact you but got no response so they sent to the government for them to hold it and you to claim it."
So how do you see if you have any of this money?
First, visit claimittn.gov, you'll enter your last name or first name or your city
If you don't get a hit at first, try to plug in different versions of your name if it has changed.
This was true, I found my money listed under my maiden name and an old address.
So once you've found a match, how do you claim it?
It's free, you'll just put in your information for the government to verify that you are who you say you are.
You can check the progress of your claim at any time. I received a check within a week.
But when you go through this process, Tony Binkley with the Better Business Bureau said to make sure you are being secure.
"You always you want to look around on that site. Make sure you are working with a site that has the 'https' at the beginning. Some security to it."
Good luck!