Are you late on mortgage payments? Or looking for ways to finance a new high-tech farm irrigation system? Perhaps you need to make a deposit on your college tuition. Whatever your reason is for needing money, loans, savings, and even crowdfunding are all legitimate means of getting money. But you have another option- unclaimed money. Simply put, unclaimed money is any money that a person or company is owed but has not been able to collect.
Here are some little known sources of unclaimed money.
Unclaimed Life Insurance Policies
Death is a tragic but inevitable part of life. And besides crushing grief, many times the people left behind also have to deal with crushing debt.
This is especially true if the deceased had a life insurance policy– but the beneficiary was not properly named or the policyholder forgot to update their information. So it’s entirely possible that you’re unknowingly the beneficiary of a life insurance policy that is now unclaimed.
How can you find out?
You can sort through the paperwork of deceased loved ones for information. If this is too emotionally distressing, another option is to search the database of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) for free. Finally, you can hire a probate attorney who can help you navigate the process of finding and claiming an unclaimed life insurance policy.
Class Action Lawsuits
To illustrate what a class action lawsuit is, let’s say that you and 100 other people all bought toasters from the same company and the toasters turned out to be defective. You could each sue the company individually, but that would be expensive and time-consuming. Instead, you could join together with the other 99 people and file a class action lawsuit.
However, lawsuits can take many years and it’s not uncommon for plaintiffs to stop keeping up with proceedings and thus miss out on any eventual payout.
There are a few ways to find out if you’re eligible for any class action lawsuit settlements. You can search online databases like the Consumer Action Class Action Database, you can contact the attorney who handled the case, or you can visit the court where the case was settled.
Utility Deposits
When you move into a new home, many utility companies will require a deposit. This deposit is intended to cover any damages that you may cause to the property or if you don’t pay your bill.
But what happens if you move and forget to cancel your utilities or you switch to a new provider? It becomes unclaimed money.
How can you find out for sure?
Once again, there are plenty of legitimate online databases on which you can search. You can also contact your past utility companies directly and inquire about any unclaimed deposits.
There are many sources of unclaimed money out there- you just have to know where to look! With a little bit of effort, you could cash out.
