Just like how everyday people have to manage their own personal/household finances (paychecks are deposited and bills must be paid), the Illinois Comptroller is the state’s financial steward of your taxpayer dollars that are deposited into the state’s checking account.Īnd in accordance with the law, “the Illinois Comptroller shall maintain the State’s central fiscal accounts, and order payments into and out of the funds held by the Treasurer”. The Illinois Comptroller is the Chief Fiscal and Accountability Officer for the State of Illinois, responsible for the legal, efficient, and effective operations of the state’s finances – i.e. The duties of this independently elected four-year term officer (meaning that this officer does not report to another four-year term officer) can be found in Section 17 of Article V of the Illinois Constitution. To find out if you have unclaimed property, visit law, the Illinois Comptroller pays the State’s bills and monitors State funds. Unclaimed property is reported to the treasurer’s office twice each year, so people are encouraged to check the database every six months.Īn estimated one-in-four adults in Illinois who search ICash find unclaimed property, and the average claim is $1,000. The state treasurer is legally required to return the property to the rightful owners no matter how long it takes. Since 2015, Frerichs’ office has returned more than $1.6 billion in unclaimed property, a record-setting amount since the program was established in 1961. Illinois holds more than $3.5 billion in unclaimed property. In Illinois, the state treasurer is tasked with safeguarding unclaimed property, such as the contents of overlooked safe deposit boxes, unpaid life insuranceīenefits, forgotten bank accounts and unused rebate cards.
Illinois’ unclaimed property program - also known as ICash - is one of the state’s oldest consumer protection initiatives. “Now, thanks to Abe the chatbot, anyone who visits ICash during off-hours can ask basic questions and get helpful responses.” As a result, those hours are not a convenient time for them to visit the ICash website or ask questions about unclaimed property,”įrerichs said. “Many people work, go to school, or fulfill other responsibilities during typical business hours. Capable of responding in English or Spanish, Abe provides an interactive way for people to obtain information when they ask short, simple questions about unclaimed property. “Many people have no idea that they have unclaimed property waiting for them, so we are glad that friends and relatives now can lend a hand in telling them.” “Abe,” the automated chatbot, is available to anyone visiting the ICash website during and outside of normal business hours. “The share function on ICash serves as an additional tool to help our office return unclaimed property,” Frerichs said.
Then, that individual can start the process of retrieving the property. Whenever visitors to the ICash website come across the name of someone they know, they can select the “share” icon and provide the email address of their friend or relative.įrerichs’ office then will notify the individual by sending an email that mentions the unclaimed property, along with the name of the friend or relative who spotted it. Through the Friends and Family “share” feature on ICash, anyone can help the treasurer’s office connect with individuals whose names appear in the unclaimed property database. The ICash website ( is a searchable database where people can check for unclaimed property. One of Frerichs’ responsibilities as state treasurer is to safeguard unclaimed property that is reported to his office. The National Association of Unclaimed Property Administrators launched the Unclaimed Property Day initiative three years ago to raise awareness of unclaimed property and help reunite Americans with their lost assets. 1, Frerichs is highlighting the two recent ICash website improvements, which make it simpler than ever for people to discover and collect unclaimed property. SPRINGFIELD, IL-( Effingham Radio)- People checking for unclaimed property on the ICash website can now ask questions of a chatbot named Abe, and they can alert friends or relatives who do not know they have unclaimed property, Illinois State Treasurer Michael Frerichs announced today.Īhead of National Unclaimed Property Day on Feb. National Unclaimed Property Day is February 1
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