The Ohio Department of Commerce is reporting that fewer Ohioans are claiming funds being held by the state that are rightfully theirs.
Every year, unclaimed funds are turned over from private sector businesses, such as insurance companies, to the Department of Commerce's Division of Unclaimed Funds to be held until they are claimed.
Between the fiscal years of 2002 and 2006, there was a boom in new funds coming from the many insurance companies that completed the demutualizing process, according to a recent news release from the Ohio Department of Commerce. Insurance demutualization is the process in which an insurance company privatizes itself and becomes owned by shareholders instead of policyholders.
According to Dennis Ginty, spokesman for the Ohio Department of Commerce, the funds can also come from any number of different sources.
They can come from financial institutions such as dormant checking and savings accounts
could be a forgotten rent or utility deposit an uncashed check undelivered stock certificate and it could also be an uncashed insurance policy
Ginty said.
According to the Ohio Department of Commerce, the amount of money coming from demutualized insurance companies has been steadily decreasing. Despite the decrease in funds being reported, the Division of Unclaimed Funds has reported a 25 percent increase to $193.2 million, up from fiscal year 2007's $154.3 million, according to the release.
In an effort to help Ohioans find out if they have unclaimed funds waiting, the State of Ohio has stepped up its efforts to inform people of their waiting claims.
The Division of Unclaimed Funds has an outreach program to make Ohioans aware of unclaimed funds and to encourage Ohioans to check and see if they have unclaimed funds
Ginty said. Our most popular outreach effort is the Division's Web Site. ... It is by far the most popular means for Ohioans to initiate the claims process.
Seventy-eight percent of claims were made via the Web site, according to the news release.
In addition
there is a newspaper advertising campaign throughout the year in each of the state's 88 counties
Ginty said. A special insert or advertisement is placed in the largest newspaper in each county and those include the names of the individuals whose accounts were turned over to the state within the past year.
The funds never expire and the state of Ohio is required to pay out any claimed funds. To see if you or a family member have unclaimed funds, visit www.com.state.oh.us/unfd/treasurehunt.asp.
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Kevin Zieber
