Orlando Unclaimed Property Auction Events Begin with $54,000 Check Delivery
8/24/2017
SANFORD, Fla. – While in Orlando preparing for the second 2017 Unclaimed Property Auction, Walter Graham, Director of Florida's Unclaimed Property Program, hand-delivered an unclaimed property check for $54,000 to an Orlando-area resident. The check represents benefits from her mother's life insurance policy that weren’t paid out properly when her mother died, and Vicki, the check recipient, plans to use the funds to help her daughter start classes at Rollins College.
The Department of Financial Services (DFS) championed a bill during the 2016 Legislative Session, which passed and was signed into law by Governor Scott, that required life insurance companies to take steps to ensure that life insurance policies get properly paid out to beneficiaries. The law also reiterates that when beneficiaries cannot be located, the life insurance benefits must be turned over to the Department as unclaimed property.
“When a loved one takes out a life insurance policy and upholds their commitment to pay for the policy, the other end of the bargain must be honored,” said CFO Patronis. “It brings me great joy to know that when a life insurance company cannot locate a beneficiary, our team can step in and work to get these funds delivered to the loved ones they were intended to go to.”
For more than five years, the Department and the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation have investigated systemic practices within the life insurance industry that grossly reduce the number of life insurance policies that are properly – and timely – paid out.
The benefits from Vicki’s mother’s life insurance policy were turned over to DFS’ Division of Unclaimed Property on May 7, 2017. After arriving in the state’s unclaimed property database, a proactive outreach effort successfully located Vicki, the beneficiary, and a notification letter was mailed to her explaining that the State of Florida was holding funds in her name. She started her claim, submitted the necessary verification documents, the claim was approved and the process to deliver the funds was initiated.
While millions of owners have been successfully reunited with their unclaimed property, the Division currently holds millions of individual unclaimed accounts. These accounts are valued at more than $1 billion. Since its inception in 1961, the Division of Unclaimed Property has successfully processed nearly four million individual claims, returning more than $4 billion back to Floridians.
More information on the Department’s second 2017 Unclaimed Property Auction can be found here and to search for an unclaimed property account in your name, visit www.FLtreasurehunt.gov.
“When a loved one takes out a life insurance policy and upholds their commitment to pay for the policy, the other end of the bargain must be honored,” said CFO Patronis. “It brings me great joy to know that when a life insurance company cannot locate a beneficiary, our team can step in and work to get these funds delivered to the loved ones they were intended to go to.”
For more than five years, the Department and the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation have investigated systemic practices within the life insurance industry that grossly reduce the number of life insurance policies that are properly – and timely – paid out.
The benefits from Vicki’s mother’s life insurance policy were turned over to DFS’ Division of Unclaimed Property on May 7, 2017. After arriving in the state’s unclaimed property database, a proactive outreach effort successfully located Vicki, the beneficiary, and a notification letter was mailed to her explaining that the State of Florida was holding funds in her name. She started her claim, submitted the necessary verification documents, the claim was approved and the process to deliver the funds was initiated.
While millions of owners have been successfully reunited with their unclaimed property, the Division currently holds millions of individual unclaimed accounts. These accounts are valued at more than $1 billion. Since its inception in 1961, the Division of Unclaimed Property has successfully processed nearly four million individual claims, returning more than $4 billion back to Floridians.
More information on the Department’s second 2017 Unclaimed Property Auction can be found here and to search for an unclaimed property account in your name, visit www.FLtreasurehunt.gov.