Claiming unclaimed funds is now easier

VW independent news 

COLUMBUS — The Ohio Department of Commerce’s Division of Unclaimed Funds is making it easier than ever to find unclaimed and in many cases, unknown cash, property and more.

The Division of Unclaimed Funds guards more than $3 billion in unclaimed money and property belonging to Ohioans. Recently, the division introduced an online portal that allows claimants to upload their verification documents directly to the division website instead of mailing physical copies into the state.

The process begins by visiting www.MissingMoney.com, where potential claimants enter their names into the search engine to see if they have any unclaimed funds. If an account appears that matches their information, claimants can generate a claim form to fill out and upload to the division using the new portal.

“They can either scan the documents with a scanner that they have at home and upload it, or they can use their phone and do the same thing,” said Akil Hardy, superintendent for the Division of Unclaimed Funds. “All you have to do is take a picture of the document and then upload it.”

Hardy said the best formats for digital documents are either a PDF, TIF, PNG, or a JPEG, but the picture must be clear and the documents need to be legible. 

If a claimant can edit PDFs from MissingMoney.com, they also have the option of simply filling out their claim form electronically and uploading that document without ever having to print at all. 

“The more efficient we are with our processes, the more claims we have the bandwidth to process,” Hardy said. “That’s what makes this new option great. We can process Ohioans’ claims quicker, which is always the goal, and it will create a better customer experience for our claimants, eliminating an extra layer of paper and mail.”

For more information about unclaimed funds in Ohio, visit com.ohio.gov and click on the online submission link.