Unclaimed Property

Welcome to the Vermont State Treasurer's Office Unclaimed Property web site. We hope this site will answer many of your questions about unclaimed property. The primary function of the Unclaimed Property Division is to locate and return various forms of unclaimed financial property to the rightful owners.
 

 Click Here to Search for Unclaimed Property -- 

 

You may search by last name or town. There are more than 350,000 claimable properties in the database. The total amount of unclaimed financial property is more than $71 million.

 

What is Unclaimed Property?

Unclaimed property includes items such as forgotten bank accounts, uncashed pay checks, and unclaimed security deposits. It's most often in the form of money, but it can also be stocks, mutual funds, and the contents of safe deposit boxes. The property comes from many sources--called holders--such as banks, credit union, corporations, utilities, insurance agencies, retailers, and governmental agencies throughout the United States. The Vermont State Treasurer's Office acts as custodian to safeguard the assets until they can be claimed by the rightful owners or their heirs.

Among the new property surrendered to the state each year are funds from old and sometimes forgotten life insurance policies from people who have died. In this video feature below, Vermonter Roger Brassard recovers thousands of dollars from a life insurance policy that his mother had taken out. See Roger's story and learn how you can claim your unclaimed property!

 

How much financial property has been returned?

The Treasurer's office has increased outreach efforts for unclaimed property through additional advertising and other activities, including enhancements to this web site. These efforts are proving successful. The amount of money paid to Vermonters in fiscal year 2015 was more than $5.11 million through 13,107 individual claims. The average claim paid was $389. This represents cash only and does not include equities or mutual fund distributions. For the 10-year period ending fiscal year 2013, including distribution of mutual funds and equities, the State's average return rate is 54.77%.

Businesses and Non-Profit Organizations also have Unclaimed Property

The unclaimed property database also includes the names of businesses and non-profit organizations who have unclaimed property. When searching for your name, check and see if your business, place of worship, or community organization have unclaimed financial property. State Treasurer Beth Pearce personally delivered checks to several non-profit organizations who had money in the database in an outreach effort in December of last year. More

Reclaiming your property is a free service!

Please take a moment and search our web site and see if we have unclaimed property for you. This is a free service. If you have comments or suggestions, please click the "Contact Us" link at the top of this page. You also may send the division an email at unclaimed.property@vermont.gov . We're also available by phone at (802) 828-2407, or toll-free in Vermont at 1-800-642-3191. Our staff will be happy to assist you.

Express claim service helps you get your money faster.

The express claim initiative remains one of our most popular programs in the Unclaimed Property Division. Within five working days of receiving a claim, the express claim program will pay the original owners of property totaling $200 or less. Look for the express claims process on the claim form.

Be an Informed Consumer of Unclaimed Property

Lost Life Insurance Benefits

The Treasurer's office has created a special web page to assist you in tracking down lost benefits.

Avoid Being Scammed

How do you know whether a web site or a phone solicitation regarding unclaimed property is legitimate? On this web page are helpful tips on evaluating such offers and how to avoid being scammed.