Frequently, we are be asked by claimants, “Why do I need to put my social security number (SSN) on the claim documentation?”
The answer is layered.
NYS requires SSNs to pay out most, if not all claims.
NYS pays interest on claims that are approved if the accounts claimed are interest bearing. They only pay that interest for 5 years though, and the rate is currently at 6%. That interest component is taxable, and a 1099 will be mailed out the following year. An SSN is required to issue that tax document.
Many accounts that are reported to the State as unclaimed are reported with an SSN attached to the asset. NYS will use the social security number provided by a claimant to confirm that the account does in fact belong to that claimant. They will also use the SSN provided to search for additional assets that may be entitled to the claimant.
And while both justifications are quite reasonable there is an even greater one to discuss - KYC.
KYC (KNOW YOUR CUSTOMER) is a legal requirement for financial institutions to know who their customers are before they work with them. Mandated by global and local regulations, the goal of KYC is to prevent financial crimes such as money laundering, fraud, terrorism financing, and identity theft.
Three components of KYC include the customer identification program (CIP), imposed under the USA PATRIOT Act in 2001, customer due diligence (CDD), and ongoing monitoring or enhanced due diligence (EDD) of a customer's account once it is established.
Customer Identification Program (CIP) - CIP requires that financial firms obtain four pieces of identifying information about a client, including name, date of birth, address, and identification number. Any financial transaction today requires a social security number.
We also hear quite often, “Can I just enter the last 4 digits of my SSN?”
The short answer is NO. If you leave off the entirety of the SSN, NYS will likely not approve the claim. They will request the SSN, and the claim process will be back to square 1.
The reason we ask for SSN on the initial claim form is two-fold. First, we are regulated by NYS and they have reviewed our documentation and mandated that our claim form has the fields contained for claims to be approved in the first cycle of the claim process. Second, if we restructured the claim form to eliminate the SSN requirement, we would have to ask for it on a second document 60 to 90 days after our initial claim is submit, and we would still have no additional information about the unclaimed assets. Again, setting the claim process back to the starting line.
Another concern that many of our prospective customers voice is, “Why should I trust Fletcher with my sensitive information?”
In addition to our work in NY as unclaimed asset recovery experts, our company is a licensed and insured private investigation agency, our principals are licensed private investigators. The credential of a licensed investigator is a symbol of public trust, to be held true to the ethics of the investigative profession:
- Character
- Honesty
-Striving for Justice
-Public Trust
-Respect for the laws and constitutions of this state and nation
When you work with Fletcher you can be assured that we do not share our customers’ personal information with any third parties, other than NYS. And we follow generally accepted practices for data protection. We have been in business since 2008, and have honored this commitment since our inception.
In conclusion, one should always be cautious when providing sensitive data to a third party. Fletcher has been a steadfast steward of our customer’s data for 16 years. We have operated with integrity since our inception. The proof is our track record of successful claim recoveries for over 50,000 customers, with total recovered amounts exceeding $100,000,000.