Registry for Unclaimed Retirement Benefits

A major frustration in plan administration is locating employees who have left the employer and have not provided a forwarding address for the processing of any benefits due to them from the plan. Although the plan may contain provisions to allow the employer to force the employee’s distribution, in reality it is impossible to send a check to someone when you don’t have a current address.

PenChecks, Inc. has made available a secure database listing of employees with retirement plan account balances that are unclaimed. The web site is designed to allow individuals to perform a free search to determine if they are entitled to any unpaid retirement account money and to give employers a resource to register names of former employees who still have money invested in the employer’s plan. When a former employee sees that he has a balance that is listed as unclaimed, he provides contact information to PenChecks, who then emails the plan sponsor so the sponsor can contact the individual and make arrangements to pay the benefit.

If you are interested in using the web site simply log on to www.unclaimedretirementbenefits.com.