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Through the I-Cash program, the treasurer’s office safeguards
more than $2.1 billion in unclaimed property belonging to millions
of Illinois residents. Hundreds of thousands of new properties have
been reported in recent months, including lost bank accounts,
insurance policy proceeds, and utility refunds. Those new reports
bring the total available to be claimed by residents of Cass,
Christian, Logan, Macon, Macoupin, Mason, Menard, Montgomery,
Morgan, Moultrie, Piatt, Sangamon, and Shelby counties to
$46,971,447 from 246,171 properties as of January. “We want to
return this property to its rightful owners,” Illinois Treasurer
Michael Frerichs said. “Whether it is a savings account someone
started for you as a child, or U.S. savings bonds from World War
II that your grandparents forgot about in a safe deposit box,
the proper place for these items is with their rightful owners.”
Starting April 12, names of 7,713 individuals, businesses and
organizations who have unclaimed property worth more than $100
that was reported over the past six months will be featured in
newspapers ads across Central Illinois. Those listings represent
a fraction of the 14 million properties reported since the
program began in 1962 that are waiting to be claimed. All
Illinoisans are encouraged to visit illinoistreasurer.gov to
search for property and initiate a claim in as little as three
minutes. Once the claim is filed with proof of ownership,
individuals will receive their property in as little as three
weeks. Last year, the average amount returned was $1,000.
Hundreds of thousands of new properties are collected from
businesses by the State Treasurer’s I-Cash program each year, so
residents are encouraged to check the State Treasurer’s I-Cash
database every six months. For more information about the State
Treasurer’s I-Cash program, visit illinoistreasurer.gov or call
217.785.6998.
[Office of the Illinois State
Treasurer Michael W. Frerichs]
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