HARTFORD, CT — Connecticut may owe you money, and thanks to a new initiative, you may not even have to file a claim to get it.
More than $1 billion in unclaimed money from old insurance policies, utility deposits, uncashed checks or forgotten bank accounts are held by the state treasurer’s office on what is called the Big List. Residents are encouraged to check the list regularly and file a claim for any funds they are owed.
But earlier this year, Treasurer Eric Russell launched a program called CT Big Match in order to streamline this process. Through CT Big Match, claims will be matched automatically if you are the sole owner of the unclaimed property, if it’s under $2,500 and if your address matches what the state has on file.
“Our goal is to get this money back to its rightful owners, and this new system is greatly simplifying the process,” Russell said in a news release. “I’m proud of our Unclaimed Property division for launching CT Big Match, and I thank them for all their hard work.”
Residents who are an automatic match will get a letter in the mail saying how much money they are owed. A few weeks later, a check will arrive from the state.
“We’re sending letters ahead of the checks because we realize that people will be reasonably suspicious of a check just showing up in the mail,” Russell said. “We want everyone to know that this is a legitimate program, and the money they receive from Connecticut’s Unclaimed Property program is theirs.”
Russell said about $2.5 million in unclaimed property will be returned directly to more than 15,000 Connecticut residents through this new initiative just this year.
“In Fiscal Year 2024, we returned $82 million to Connecticut residents, and we want to return even more this year,” Russell said. “Searching CTBigList.gov for property and filing a claim is free and easy to do, and everyone should take a few minutes to see if they have money waiting for them.”
Most of the assets from the Big List are for under $500 — some under $1. But some people may be owed much more than that, officials have said. For the Big Match program, officials set a minimum cap at $50. Any amount less than that may not be worth the postage or processing costs, officials said.
To avoid fraudulent claims, any claims with large sums or with more than one owner will still need to be done manually and will all be reviewed by a staff member, Russell told CT Insider.
Residents who wish to file a claim can do so directly from the site. They will then get an email with more details about what’s needed, such as supporting documents verifying a person’s identity, Social Security number or a former address. There is no deadline for claiming your money, state officials said.
Those who may have an issue filing online or have questions about a letter they received can call 1-800-833-7318 weekdays from 8 a.m. and 5 p.m.
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