State Treasury Department returns $100M+ in unclaimed money in past four years

The State Treasury of Mississippi has given residents back more than $100 million in the past four-and-a-half years and is hoping that some semi-recent changes to its claims-making process will push that number above $130 million by 2025.

During the Neshoba County Fair on Aug. 1, Mississippi Treasurer David McRae told a crowd of people that his office has returned more money to Mississippians in the past four-and-a-half-year period than ever before.

McRae told the Clarion Ledger on Aug. 7 record-setting figure was due to multiple factors. Those include McRae's dedication to making the claims process more efficient and a new e-filing system that allowed people to find lost money online versus the old system where all claims were submitted via mail.

"We're very proud of that," McRae said. "Roughly one in 10 people in Mississippi have unclaimed money. The average claim is roughly $2,100."

Since taking office in 2020, McRae's office has found some claims as high as $800,000, although, he said, most fall far below that with some as low as just $1.

McRae said taking the system online has significantly sped up the process to reclaim lost money, especially on claims that require further documentation due to high-dollar amounts or the circumstances of a claim, such as an insurance policy or will and testament.

"That was one of the biggest complaints I heard on the campaign in 2019 was that people had to download the paper, fill out the paper, get a notary and send it in. And it took time," McRae said. "With the E file system, it was able to do things quicker, more efficient. In fact, a little too efficient. We had so many claims, it took a little time to get to. Over time, we dwindled that down, and that's how we got to the 100 million."

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To celebrate the success of the program, McRae is taking the show on the road throughout the fall, hosting events to both commend the milestone and set up in-person claims desks so people can come to the events and file claims for lost money.

"We want to go to the people of Mississippi and advertise this program," McRae said. "A lot of people aren't comfortable sending in their information, either by paper or doing it online. They want to see somebody face to face. So, us going out, and I call it a traveling road show, what we do is go out to the people."

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McRae's office has already hosted events in Jackson and in Southaven, and he plans to visit Tupelo, Hattiesburg and a city on the coast. Dates and further details for those events have yet to be laid out, McRae said.

At his Jackson event alone, McRae said about 350 people attended, and many made claims and received lost money during the event.

Grant McLaughlin covers state government for the Clarion Ledger. He can be reached at gmclaughlin@gannett.com or 972-571-2335.

This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: State Treasury Department returns $100M+ in unclaimed money in past four years