Unclaimed property credit balances: what a ride company owes the state for overpayments and unused rides

A credit balance you cannot return is not yours to keep. After a set number of years, state unclaimed property law has the ride company report the money and send it to the state, which holds it for the owner. This page covers money owed to riders, facilities and drivers: overpayments, uncashed refund checks and unpaid wages. Money a Medicaid payer overpaid you follows a separate federal rule, covered in the 60-day overpayment guide. Refunds on prepaid ride packages end up here when nobody collects them, and money customers owe you is a different problem, covered in collecting unpaid bills.

The examples use the model act and three states with different rules: Texas, Florida and Delaware. They are as of October 2026, and every state differs on dormancy, notice and reporting, so confirm your own state’s rule.

What counts as unclaimed property for a ride company?

Anything you owe and have not been able to deliver. Florida’s definition of intangible property lists credit balances, customer overpayments, security deposits, refunds and unpaid wages. Delaware’s definition of property lists a credit balance, a customer’s overpayment, a gift card, a stored-value card, a security deposit, a refund, a credit memorandum and an unpaid wage. For a ride company that comes down to four kinds of money:

• Overpayments. A family pays an invoice twice, or a facility pays one that a broker also covered.
• Refund checks. A refund goes out for a cancelled package or ride, and the check is never cashed.
• Deposits and credits. A security deposit, or a credit memo issued to a customer that is never used.
• Wages. A final paycheck or a payroll check that a former driver never cashed.

A forgotten wallet or a medication left on a seat is not unclaimed property. Those fall under lost property rules, covered in what to do with items left in a van.

How long before a credit has to be reported?

The dormancy period is the number of years money sits without the owner showing interest before the state presumes it abandoned, and it runs from three to five years for most credits and from one to five years for wages.

In the uniform act the three-year rule for credits applies to money owed to a customer from a retail business transaction, and anything not listed falls under a general three-year rule. Texas ties its presumption to an owner whose location the holder does not know and who has not made a claim. Florida lets the owner rebut the presumption by communicating with the holder about the money.

An example shows the arithmetic. A family overpays a $62 invoice in March 2026, and the account goes quiet. Under a three-year rule that credit reaches the dormancy line in March 2029, and under a five-year rule in March 2031. In both cases a call, an email reply or a refund request from the family before then restarts the clock.

Which state gets the money?

The state of the owner’s last known address in your records gets it, and your own state of organization gets it when the records show no address. The uniform act’s section 302 gives custody to the state of the last-known address in the holder’s records, and section 304 gives it to the holder’s state of domicile when there is no address, or when the address state does not take that kind of property. Delaware’s section 1141 does the same for a holder domiciled in Delaware, and Texas section 72.001 reaches property whose owner’s address is in Texas, or unknown when the holder is a Texas company.

Florida defines domicile as the state of incorporation for a corporation and the state of filing for an LLC or similar entity. A ride company formed in Delaware but running vans in Georgia therefore reports each credit to the state of the rider’s address on file, and the credits with no address to Delaware. Keep an address on every account, because the address decides where the report goes.

What notice does the owner get, and when is the report due?

The holder mails a written notice before reporting, and the window depends on the state. The notice requirement applies to credits above a minimum amount.

• Uniform act. First-class mail to the owner not more than 180 days nor less than 60 days before the report, if the property is worth at least the model act’s bracketed $50, which states may change, and the records have a usable address.
• Texas. Written notice by mail or email to the owner not later than 60 days before delivery to the Comptroller, for property valued at more than $250. A holder files by July 1 a report of what it held on March 1, and amounts under $25 may be reported in total.
• Florida. First-class mail 90 to 180 days before the report for property of $50 or more, plus a certified mail notice at least 60 days before filing if it is worth more than $1,000. The report is due before May 1 and covers the preceding calendar year. Credit balances, customer overpayments and refunds under $10 are not reported.
• Delaware. First-class mail not more than 120 days nor less than 60 days before the report, for property of $50 or more. The report is due March 1 for the 12 months before January 1.

Are credits owed to business customers treated differently?

In some states, but most states do not exempt them. The Uniform Law Commission’s 2016 comment to the model act says fifteen states exclude some form of property from a business-to-business transaction by statute, and that most states do not, which is why the act has no such exemption. Nevada is one of the fifteen: section 120A.505 says credit memoranda, overpayments, credit balances, deposits and refunds owed between business associations are not presumed abandoned while they have an ongoing business relationship, defined as at least one transaction within each three-year period. It does not cover outstanding checks. Delaware’s definition says nothing in it creates a business-to-business exemption of any kind. A facility that overpaid you is a business customer, so the answer depends on your state.

Do Medicaid and prepaid ride balances count?

A Medicaid or broker overpayment is not unclaimed property, because the payer is the owner and you know exactly who it is. Under 42 U.S.C. 1320a-7k(d) you report and return an identified overpayment by the later of 60 days after identifying it or the date any corresponding cost report is due. The 60-day rule guide covers how.

Prepaid dollar balances have their own rules. Texas section 72.1016 and Delaware section 1133 treat a stored-value card or gift card separately, with a Delaware period of five years after the later of the purchase, added funds, the owner’s balance check or the owner’s last indication of interest. Florida goes the other way: section 717.1045 says an unredeemed gift certificate is not reported as abandoned property. Whether a ride-count package counts depends on how your state defines the product, and the ride packages guide shows where federal gift card rules start and stop.

A year-end routine to clear credits

Do this once a year, a few months before your state’s report date.

1. List every credit. Run your ledger for accounts with a negative balance, and add uncashed refund and payroll checks from the bank.
2. Refund what you can. Pay known customers back by the method they used to pay. A refund ends the credit, and a documented attempt keeps the record clean.
3. Fix addresses. Search the account, the trip history and the last invoice for a current mailing address.
4. Send the notices. Mail each owner the written notice in the window your state requires, with the date the owner must respond by.
5. Report and remit. File the holder report by the due date and send the money with it.
6. Keep the proof. Save the notice, the mailing date and the report. Florida requires holders to keep records for 10 years after property becomes reportable.

Tracking credits in HealthRide

A credit balance begins as a double payment you do not notice. HealthRide’s payments keep card payments, recorded check payments and refunds in one ledger, with every payment matched to its trip. When you review credits before your report date, you read one record instead of several.