Illinois may be holding free money for you. It sounds too good to be true, but it's not. Read below to find out if you have free money waiting for you.
Unclaimed Property is money owed to people and companies that gets turned over to Illinois when companies can't find people to pay it back. For example, if you move and you don't tell your utility company your new address, they don't know where to send your refund check. In this case they would turn the money over to Illinois as Unclaimed Property. Illinois would then hold it until you come and claim it. Some states take the money after a certain number of years, while some hold unclaimed funds indefinitely.
Here's the important thing - you could have free money waiting for you!
Total Unclaimed Funds
Three Billion Dollars
State Population
12,671,821
Average Claim Size
$1,380 to $2,760
According to this March 2022 NBC 5 Chicago article, the State of Illinois is holding over Three Billion Dollars in unclaimed funds.
Over Twelve Million people live in Illinois, so that means Illinois is holding over $276 per resident! Not every resident has unclaimed funds, so that means the average claim is much higher. Usually 1 in 5 to 1 in 10 people have unclaimed assets waiting for them, which would make Illinois's average claim between $1,380 and $2,760.
Some common examples of unclaimed propert include:.
Many times people forget they have accounts open with companies, or move companies that owe them money can't find their new address. For example, electric companies, natural gas companies, phone companies, and others often owe people money when they move, but can't find the person's new address to send them a check. After a certain time period the company must turn that money over the the state, and the state holds it until the owner comes to claim it. Approximately 1 out of every 10 people in the US have unclaimed money waiting for them, they just have to claim it.
See the table below for how many people and businesses in cities in Illinois have free money waiting for them. Currently we have records for money held in New York, but we'll add more states soon. Click on the city name to see detailed information about unclaimed property in that city.
see more cities Check for Unclaimed Funds
You can search for and and claim unclaimed assets on the Illinois's official webste.
Here's how to do it:
Claiming funds using the Illinois Unclaimed Funds state website can be a bit tricky. Follow the instructions below to see if you have unclaimed money owed to you and to see how to claim it.
To start your search, head on over to https://icash.illinoistreasurer.gov/ and click the "Search Now" button.
On the search page, enter your first name and last name. You may want to try just your last name and your first initial, or just your last name to see if you have any unclaimed property where the reporting company mispelled or cut off your name. If you own or work for a company, you can search by company or organization name as well.
The search results will show any unclaimed property ready for you to claim. To start your claim, click the "+ Claim" button.
Specify your relationship to the unclaimed money.
Fill in your contact info. Warning: the form does ask for your social security number. If you're not comfortable providing, you can mail in the form.
Agree to the terms and electronically sign the agreement to process your claim.
The system may now ask you to upload claim documentation. Illinois will email you with what documents you are required to upload. Wait for the email and follow the instructions to upload the required documents.
At this point you should receive an email telling you what claim documents you need to upload. Here's what the email will look like:
Typical documents to upload are your driver's license, passport, a utility bill, credit report, and other such documents.
To complete the online process, provide the documents requested.
After you submit your documents, it will take a few days to a few weeks to hear back from the state.
Back to State List Check for Unclaimed Funds
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