Do You Have Unclaimed Funds Waiting For You?

Numerous polls have shown that financial insecurity is one of the biggest concerns in the LGBTQ community.

One of the fundamental tenets of personal finance is knowing where your assets are and how they’re performing. Yet, thousands of people have forgotten money sitting in dormant accounts that they’re unaware of.

In B.C. alone there’s more than $149 million in forgotten financial assets languishing in dormant accounts waiting to be claimed by the rightful owners.  

Funds become forgotten for a number of reasons. People change jobs frequently, move away without leaving a forwarding address, or simply forget to close an account. As a result, dormant funds held by an employer, financial institution, company, or organization just sit there waiting to be claimed.

Companies and organizations are required by law to notify owners of dormant assets. If they can’t locate the rightful owner, they’re required to transfer these forgotten funds to the not-for-profit BC Unclaimed Property Society (BCUPS).

BCUPS serves as a "lost and found" for forgotten funds in the province. The not-for-profit Society was established in 2003 by the BC government and Vancouver Foundation to administer the province’s unclaimed property program. Its mission is to reunite unclaimed money with the rightful owners.

Dormant funds managed by BCUPS include unclaimed credit union accounts, unpaid wages, overpayments to debt collectors, missed court payments, pension funds, insurance settlements, outstanding estates, and real estate deposits.

Anyone with access to the internet can search for missing money on the BC Unclaimed Property Society’s website at unclaimedpropertybc.ca. There is no cost to search for or claim forgotten funds through BCUPS, and unclaimed money never expires.

Simply enter your name into the BC Unclaimed Property Society’s free online database. If your name matches unclaimed funds in the BCUPS’s database, click on the unclaimed property number beside your name, fill out the form with your contact information and then click the “submit online inquiry” button at the bottom of the page.

You’ll soon be contacted by a BCUPS representative requesting supporting documentation and identification to verify your right to the unclaimed funds.

Once you submit the requested documentation and legitimate ownership is confirmed by BCUPS, you’ll be sent a cheque, usually within ten business days.

Last year, BCUPS returned $1,035,932 from dormant accounts to verified claimants who were unaware they had forgotten assets. Most unclaimed accounts in BCUPS's database amount to between $300 to $500. But some unclaimed accounts far exceed that amount. The single largest unclaimed property payout by BCUPS was a $1.01 million estate made in 2019.

One of the unique aspects of BCUPS is its philanthropic business model where a portion of inactive funds are allocated each year for charitable purposes. Last year, BCUPS transferred $6.98 million to Vancouver Foundation to address community and social issues. Vancouver Foundation directs these funds to high-priority projects such as combatting the opioid crisis, reducing homelessness, and helping young adults successfully transition out of foster care.

To find out if you have unclaimed money waiting for you, visit unclaimedpropertybc.ca.

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