Thousands of individuals have unclaimed funds waiting for them in inactive credit union accounts, as well as unpaid wages, overpayments to debt collectors, proceeds from courts, pension funds, estates and real estate deposits in British Columbia. The British Columbia Unclaimed Property Society (BCUPS), whose mission is to put unclaimed money back in the hands of rightful owners, returned $1,035,932 last year in forgotten funds.
BCUPS holds unclaimed property as the custodian for rightful owners. The Society maintains a free online database where people can search to see if they have any unclaimed money waiting for them. Individuals can claim the funds by completing a verification process. There is no limitation period to claim funds and no cost for BCUPS’s services. BCUPS also works with companies and organizations to help get dormant assets off their books. In 2020, BCUPS received $4,858,925 in unclaimed funds from the courts, the Public Guardian and Trustee of British Columbia, credit unions, insurance companies, various levels of government, companies in liquidation, among other organizations.
Technically, an account is deemed dormant when a prescribed period of time has transpired with no activity, from a year to 10 years, depending on the type of account involved. Under BC law, credit unions, debt collection agencies, real estate agencies, companies in liquidation, municipal and provincial courts and municipalities, which are classified as mandatory holders, are required to make a “reasonable effort” to identify forgotten account holders before transferring these funds to BCUPS. Other organizations holding trust funds, insurance policies, brokerage accounts and closed pension plans are encouraged to voluntarily transfer their unclaimed property accounts to BCUPS if the rightful owners cannot be located.
British Columbia is the only jurisdiction in North America that has set up a not-for-profit society to administer its unclaimed property program where a portion of funds are transferred to charity.
Unclaimed Property in British Columbia by the Numbers:
$148,933,709 – Total amount of money sitting in dormant accounts waiting to be claimed.
$4,858,925 – Amount of unclaimed funds BCUPS received from financial institutions, companies and organizations in 2020.
$1,035,932 – Amount of money returned to verified claimants in 2020.
$106,789,525 – Total amount of money from dormant accounts BCUPS has received since its inception on April 1, 2003.
$18,514,588 – Amount of money from dormant accounts BCUPS has returned to rightful owners since its inception.
$48.4 Million – Funds BCUPS has transferred to Vancouver Foundation for charitable purposes since its inception.
$1.01 Million – Largest amount claimed. An outstanding estate claimed in July 2019.
$1.9 Million – Largest dormant account in BC waiting to be claimed.
The above information was taken from the British Columbia Unclaimed Property Society (BCUPS) website.
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