IL Mailing Checks To 138K People: See If You're One Of Them

ILLINOIS — Nearly 140,000 people have or will soon receive checks from the state totaling almost $13.2 million, according to the Illinois treasurer.

The checks are part of the latest of round of the Enhanced Money Match program, which allows the treasurer’s office to automatically return money to people without requiring a claim. Most of the checks will be between $50 and $100.

"Returning this money to its rightful owners will help make life a little bit easier for people," Treasurer Michael Frerichs said last week in a news release. "At a time when we are all dealing with higher prices, it can pay for a couple bags of groceries or maybe a fill-up or two at the pump."

The program crossmatches data already collected by the state with the treasurer’s unclaimed property database to determine names and addresses for the owners of the property, which includes items such as overlooked safe deposit boxes, unpaid life insurance benefits, forgotten bank accounts and unused rebate cards.

Owners of unclaimed property will receive a letter describing the amount and source of the money followed by a check. Since 2018, the treasurer’s office has returned over $102 million to nearly 422,000 people through the program. This most recent round of checks to 138,561 recipients will be the largest such match in the nation.

To learn if you have unclaimed property, visit www.illinoistreasurer.gov/ICASH.