You work hard for your money, punching 40+ hours each week to earn a paycheck. You would never throw your money away in the trashcan and you wouldn’t just go handing it out to strangers on the street. Why, then, do so many of us let businesses, organizations, and other individuals hold onto money that is ours? This could be happening more often than you think. Sometimes we don’t realize that they have our money and other times it’s because we know it’s gone but don’t know how to fight to get it back. It’s your money – work hard to guard it!

Insurance 

You likely have insurance, whether it’s for you car, your apartment or your house. The sad fact of the matter is that many people don’t actually understand what sort of items are covered on their home contents insurance. So, when something goes wrong, we’re not 100% sure if insurance will cover it, how to file a claim, and if it’s worth doing so.

If you do experience a loss in one way shape or form, go ahead and log into your insurance portal and pull your policy up. Most will have in easy to read print the coverage that comes with your policy. For example, home insurance will cover things like clothes and even kitchen equipment too. Something well worth knowing if you like to purchase expensive items like a KitchenAid Mixer. So, regardless of your loss, read the policy and give your agent a call to see if it can be recovered! Don’t pay for insurance and not use it when you need it!

Worker’s comp claims 

Being in an accident can badly affect your life and your financial wellbeing, especially if it was a serious one that involved industrial machinery or a large vehicle. After all, you will not only have all those hospital bills to pay for, and you could be unable to work as well.  

If the accident in question was not your fault, you may be owed money to cover these costs from the person or organization that was responsible. In fact, you can use things like this truck accident settlement calculator to give you an idea of just how much money the responsible party owes you. Something that can help you decide whether to go forward with a case. 

When it comes to claiming compensation, its best to get a lawyer involved as they will know how your case will work. They will also have a better idea of whether it’s better to settle out of court or push through for your case to be heard. Often times pushy insurance agents will brush it off or offer way lower than it’s worth, so getting legal counsel is wise. Companies have insurance for a reason, so take advantage if you’ve been wronged.

Inheritance

When a family member passes, there’s a good chance they named you in the will to claim part of the inheritance. Although unlikely, you may have been named in a will or are due a part of an inheritance that you’re not aware of. Yes, that is right people all over the world are left money when someone passes. However, if the court in charge of the will cannot find the person to whom it is owed they can’t pass it on. Something that means the person never gets their money or assets they are owed.  

Fortunately, there are some tactics you can use to find out if you are already a millionaire but don’t know it (like I said, unlikely!). One is to visit the National Association of Unclaimed Property Administrators to see if anyone has left you land or a house. Or, you can even go to sites like www.MissingMoney.com and search across states for lost inheritance.

Unused subscriptions

How many gyms do you belong to, and how many magazines show up at your door that you don’t read? What about clubs or services that you signed up as part of a free trial and then forgot to cancel? It’s worth going through your credit card statement every now and again to see if there are auto-charges that you’re not using anymore. Why pay for something if you’re not going to use it? Call and cancel!

So, when it comes to your money, don’t let it go away easily! Put forth a little effort and don’t let your money run away from you.

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