(OT) USians Unclaimed Property

On 8/9/2011 5:05 PM, EvelynVogtGamble(Divamanque) wrote:
Just so you do it through an OFFICIAL government web-site you contact
directly! Have you noticed how may scams there are out there that offer
some similar benefit, whose only purpose is to get you to share personal
info for purposes of identity theft?

I just did a few searches in states that *I* remember living in, and
came up with nothing. Always made sure that I went to the site that had
(name of state).gov in it (some it's the treasury that handles the
unclaimed, some (like here in Indiana) it the attourney general).



jmcquown wrote:
Years ago my father saw something on the Today Show about unclaimed
property. ("Property" includes money.) He called me and said, "You
have a computer?" Yes, I do. LOL He thought he had a savings account
left from the 1950's in Ohio when he reinlisted in the Marines after
going to college. So he asked me to search for unclaimed property. I
didn't find anything under his name. Yesterday I was bored so I
googled my mother's maiden name and what do you know? She had an
insurance policy with State Farm in Pennsylvania in the 1940's. And
there's unclaimed money. So I filled out a form online, answered a
few questions and the Pennsylvania Treasury Deparment has processed my
request and issued me a check. How cool is that? Thanks, Mom!

Check out the unclaimed property website for your state. Maybe you
have a long lost family member who left some money hanging around.

Jill


--
^..^ This is Kitty. Copy and paste Kitty into your signature to help
her wipe out Bunny's world domination.
--
The ONE and ONLY
lefthanded-pathetic-paranoid-psychotic-sarcastic-wiseass-ditzy
former-blonde in Bloomington! (And proud of it, too)©
email me at nalee1964 (at) comcast (dot) net
http://community.webshots.com/user/mgcmdjeep

"Magic Mood Jeep" wrote in message
...
On 8/9/2011 5:05 PM, EvelynVogtGamble(Divamanque) wrote:
Just so you do it through an OFFICIAL government web-site you contact
directly! Have you noticed how may scams there are out there that offer
some similar benefit, whose only purpose is to get you to share personal
info for purposes of identity theft?

I just did a few searches in states that *I* remember living in, and
came up with nothing. Always made sure that I went to the site that had
(name of state).gov in it (some it's the treasury that handles the
unclaimed, some (like here in Indiana) it the attourney general).

..gov, certainly. The State Treasurer or the Controllers office. Places
with a phone number that don't redirect you to India. LOL

I don't even know what prompted me to search for my mother's name. Maybe
because I got a property tax refund from 2009 after bitching, complaining
and filling out forms and they kept saying "no, you really do owe $2000 more
than last year". Then they realized I'd been taxed at the wrong rate and
sent me a refund. Or maybe it's because the SSA sent me claim forms saying
they'd failed to pay my parents' some money... I filled out the forms and
sure enough. Just got a nice fat deposit from the SSA.

And no (to Sherry, not to you MMJ) I'm not sharing any of it with my
brothers. I paid $33,000 in taxes for an inheritance they got scott free
because the annuity was reported under my SSN. According to her attorney I
could have legally kept all the money but I didn't. In accordance with her
Will I split everything three ways. But ya know, she left me the house.
And my brother Scott expected me to sell the house and give him a third of
that, too. Why he felt entitled to that I don't know. He's not the one who
moved here and took care of her.

And then when the tax bill came on that annuity... did they offer to help
pay it? Nope. The IRS did their best to help me, but I still had to pay
$33,000. My brothers got their third, I paid the taxes. I'll be angry
about that to the end of my days. Bitter? You betcha. Sharing this little
windfall (who knows... might be just a couple of bucks)... nope, don't think
so.

Jill

On Aug 10, 9:30*am, "jmcquown" wrote:
"Magic Mood Jeep" wrote in ... On 8/9/2011 5:05 PM, EvelynVogtGamble(Divamanque) wrote:
Just so you do it through an OFFICIAL government web-site you contact
directly! *Have you noticed how may scams there are out there that offer
some similar benefit, whose only purpose is to get you to share personal
info for purposes of identity theft?

I just did a few searches in states that *I* remember living in, and
came up with nothing. *Always made sure that I went to the site that had
(name of state).gov in it (some it's the treasury that handles the
unclaimed, some (like here in Indiana) it the attourney general).

.gov, certainly. *The State Treasurer or the Controllers office. *Places
with a phone number that don't redirect you to India. LOL

I don't even know what prompted me to search for my mother's name. *Maybe
because I got a property tax refund from 2009 after bitching, complaining
and filling out forms and they kept saying "no, you really do owe $2000 more
than last year". *Then they realized I'd been taxed at the wrong rate and
sent me a refund. *Or maybe it's because the SSA sent me claim forms saying
they'd failed to pay my parents' some money... I filled out the forms and
sure enough. *Just got a nice fat deposit from the SSA.

And no (to Sherry, not to you MMJ) I'm not sharing any of it with my
brothers. *I paid $33,000 in taxes for an inheritance they got scott free
because the annuity was reported under my SSN. *According to her attorney I
could have legally kept all the money but I didn't. *In accordance with her
Will I split everything three ways. *But ya know, she left me the house..
And my brother Scott expected me to sell the house and give him a third of
that, too. *Why he felt entitled to that I don't know. *He's not the one who
moved here and took care of her.

And then when the tax bill came on that annuity... did they offer to help
pay it? *Nope. *The IRS did their best to help me, but I still had to pay
$33,000. *My brothers got their third, I paid the taxes. *I'll be angry
about that to the end of my days. *Bitter? *You betcha. *Sharing this little
windfall (who knows... might be just a couple of bucks)... nope, don't think
so.

Jill

Ooo...sorry Jill; I didn't mean to set off a hot button. :-)

What even brought about that train of thought is....when I did the
paperwork to
claim my dad's cash, I fully expected to have to show up with a death
certificate,
will, and probate papers, and they'd cut a check equally among heirs.
I was shocked
that I didn't have to show any of that. IIRC. I may have had to show
the probate papers.
And the full amount came made out to me. I split it with her anyway.
We each got
enough to buy dinner and a tank of gas. :0-)
Since yours is a life insurancy policy, you could possibly end up with
a very tidy sum.
Hope so.

Sherry

"Sherry" wrote in message
...
On Aug 10, 9:30 am, "jmcquown" wrote:
"Magic Mood Jeep" wrote in
... On 8/9/2011 5:05 PM,
EvelynVogtGamble(Divamanque) wrote:
Just so you do it through an OFFICIAL government web-site you contact
directly! Have you noticed how may scams there are out there that
offer
some similar benefit, whose only purpose is to get you to share
personal
info for purposes of identity theft?

I just did a few searches in states that *I* remember living in, and
came up with nothing. Always made sure that I went to the site that
had
(name of state).gov in it (some it's the treasury that handles the
unclaimed, some (like here in Indiana) it the attourney general).

.gov, certainly. The State Treasurer or the Controllers office. Places
with a phone number that don't redirect you to India. LOL

I don't even know what prompted me to search for my mother's name. Maybe
because I got a property tax refund from 2009 after bitching, complaining
and filling out forms and they kept saying "no, you really do owe $2000
more
than last year". Then they realized I'd been taxed at the wrong rate and
sent me a refund. Or maybe it's because the SSA sent me claim forms
saying
they'd failed to pay my parents' some money... I filled out the forms and
sure enough. Just got a nice fat deposit from the SSA.

And no (to Sherry, not to you MMJ) I'm not sharing any of it with my
brothers. I paid $33,000 in taxes for an inheritance they got scott free
because the annuity was reported under my SSN. According to her attorney
I
could have legally kept all the money but I didn't. In accordance with
her
Will I split everything three ways. But ya know, she left me the house.
And my brother Scott expected me to sell the house and give him a third
of
that, too. Why he felt entitled to that I don't know. He's not the one
who
moved here and took care of her.

And then when the tax bill came on that annuity... did they offer to help
pay it? Nope. The IRS did their best to help me, but I still had to pay
$33,000. My brothers got their third, I paid the taxes. I'll be angry
about that to the end of my days. Bitter? You betcha. Sharing this
little
windfall (who knows... might be just a couple of bucks)... nope, don't
think
so.

Jill

Ooo...sorry Jill; I didn't mean to set off a hot button. :-)

It IS a hot button. My brothers never did a thing to help take care of our
parents. They certainly did take 1/3rd of the money.

What even brought about that train of thought is....when I did the
paperwork to claim my dad's cash, I fully expected to have to show up with
a death
certificate, will, and probate papers, and they'd cut a check equally
among heirs.
I was shocked that I didn't have to show any of that. IIRC. I may have had
to show
the probate papers.
And the full amount came made out to me. I split it with her anyway.
We each got
enough to buy dinner and a tank of gas. :0-)
Since yours is a life insurancy policy, you could possibly end up with
a very tidy sum.
Hope so.

Sherry

I've got death certificates, probate papers, Wills. You name it. But I'm
not splitting whatever paultry amount this turns out to be with my brothers.
They didn't help me pay the taxes on their inheiritance and they didn't help
me take care of our parents, either. When Mom finally admitted Dad wasn't
"himself" (he had altzheimers) I came here. I got him to eat. I did the
grocery shopping, the cooking, the cleaning. I arranged for their medical
care. I made sure the bills were paid. I basically took over... and that's
what happens with children when their parents get older.

And after they died my middle brother (he's the one I have the problem with)
expected me to sell the house and give him a third of those proceeds, too.
Uh, that would be a no. Then he sent me a bill for attending her funeral
because I refused to sell the house and split the proceeds. Oh, really? No
one said you had to attend her funeral. You expect me to pay for a suite at
the Hilton Garden Inn? Oh, and the bar and restaurant bills. Excuse me?!

I let her lawyer deal with that. Then he threatened to contest the Will and
the lawyer said, "Oh, feel free! You'll have to hire an attorney, which
will cost you thousands of dollars. And since I wrote your mother's Will
I'll be testifying on Jill's behalf. Your mother made her wishes very
clear, she wanted Jill to have the house." The only thing my middle brother
was ever interested in was the how much money he was going to get. He
always was a greedy SOB.

AFAIC he owes me $11,000. So no, giving him any portion of unclaimed
property is simply ridiculous. I don't expect this to be a lot of money.
If I can go out to lunch with my neighbor or maybe buy a new dress, I'll be
happy with that

Jill

"jmcquown" wrote in message
...

"Sherry" wrote in message
...
On Aug 10, 9:30 am, "jmcquown" wrote:
"Magic Mood Jeep" wrote in
... On 8/9/2011 5:05 PM,
EvelynVogtGamble(Divamanque) wrote:
Just so you do it through an OFFICIAL government web-site you contact
directly! Have you noticed how may scams there are out there that
offer
some similar benefit, whose only purpose is to get you to share
personal
info for purposes of identity theft?

I just did a few searches in states that *I* remember living in, and
came up with nothing. Always made sure that I went to the site that
had
(name of state).gov in it (some it's the treasury that handles the
unclaimed, some (like here in Indiana) it the attourney general).

.gov, certainly. The State Treasurer or the Controllers office. Places
with a phone number that don't redirect you to India. LOL

I don't even know what prompted me to search for my mother's name.
Maybe
because I got a property tax refund from 2009 after bitching,
complaining
and filling out forms and they kept saying "no, you really do owe $2000
more
than last year". Then they realized I'd been taxed at the wrong rate
and
sent me a refund. Or maybe it's because the SSA sent me claim forms
saying
they'd failed to pay my parents' some money... I filled out the forms
and
sure enough. Just got a nice fat deposit from the SSA.

And no (to Sherry, not to you MMJ) I'm not sharing any of it with my
brothers. I paid $33,000 in taxes for an inheritance they got scott
free
because the annuity was reported under my SSN. According to her
attorney I
could have legally kept all the money but I didn't. In accordance with
her
Will I split everything three ways. But ya know, she left me the house.
And my brother Scott expected me to sell the house and give him a third
of
that, too. Why he felt entitled to that I don't know. He's not the one
who
moved here and took care of her.

And then when the tax bill came on that annuity... did they offer to
help
pay it? Nope. The IRS did their best to help me, but I still had to
pay
$33,000. My brothers got their third, I paid the taxes. I'll be angry
about that to the end of my days. Bitter? You betcha. Sharing this
little
windfall (who knows... might be just a couple of bucks)... nope, don't
think
so.

Jill

Ooo...sorry Jill; I didn't mean to set off a hot button. :-)

It IS a hot button. My brothers never did a thing to help take care of
our parents. They certainly did take 1/3rd of the money.

What even brought about that train of thought is....when I did the
paperwork to claim my dad's cash, I fully expected to have to show up
with a death
certificate, will, and probate papers, and they'd cut a check equally
among heirs.
I was shocked that I didn't have to show any of that. IIRC. I may have
had to show
the probate papers.
And the full amount came made out to me. I split it with her anyway.
We each got
enough to buy dinner and a tank of gas. :0-)
Since yours is a life insurancy policy, you could possibly end up with
a very tidy sum.
Hope so.

Sherry

I've got death certificates, probate papers, Wills. You name it. But I'm
not splitting whatever paultry amount this turns out to be with my
brothers. They didn't help me pay the taxes on their inheiritance and they
didn't help me take care of our parents, either. When Mom finally
admitted Dad wasn't "himself" (he had altzheimers) I came here. I got him
to eat. I did the grocery shopping, the cooking, the cleaning. I
arranged for their medical care. I made sure the bills were paid. I
basically took over... and that's what happens with children when their
parents get older.

And after they died my middle brother (he's the one I have the problem
with) expected me to sell the house and give him a third of those
proceeds, too. Uh, that would be a no. Then he sent me a bill for
attending her funeral because I refused to sell the house and split the
proceeds. Oh, really? No one said you had to attend her funeral. You
expect me to pay for a suite at the Hilton Garden Inn? Oh, and the bar
and restaurant bills. Excuse me?!

I let her lawyer deal with that. Then he threatened to contest the Will
and the lawyer said, "Oh, feel free! You'll have to hire an attorney,
which will cost you thousands of dollars. And since I wrote your mother's
Will I'll be testifying on Jill's behalf. Your mother made her wishes
very clear, she wanted Jill to have the house." The only thing my middle
brother was ever interested in was the how much money he was going to get.
He always was a greedy SOB.

AFAIC he owes me $11,000. So no, giving him any portion of unclaimed
property is simply ridiculous. I don't expect this to be a lot of money.
If I can go out to lunch with my neighbor or maybe buy a new dress, I'll
be happy with that

Jill

I'd say what I think of your brothers, but I don't use that kind of
language.

When my mother was 80, she moved, along with my sister and brother-in-law,
from California to Alaska. They bought a two-story house, and my mother had
her own apartment downstairs, but they were always together. My sister
would go downstairs to visit with my mother for a while every morning before
she went to work. When she got home, she'd stop in to see my mother. Mama
did have her own car until she was 90, but they often took her places with
them, and they made sure she got the proper medical care. I did fly up
there to help encourage Mama to go into a long-term care facility when she
really wasn't able to care for herself any more, but my sister had the main
responsibility, including power of attorney.

A few years after they moved to Alaska, my mother mentioned her will, and I
told her I thought she should leave everything to my sister. She didn't,
but my sister deserved it, just as you did. I think you have been
incredibly generous with your brothers.

Joy

On 8/11/2011 5:32 PM, Joy wrote:
wrote in message
...

wrote in message
...
On Aug 10, 9:30 am, wrote:
"Magic Mood wrote in
... On 8/9/2011 5:05 PM,
EvelynVogtGamble(Divamanque) wrote:
Just so you do it through an OFFICIAL government web-site you contact
directly! Have you noticed how may scams there are out there that
offer
some similar benefit, whose only purpose is to get you to share
personal
info for purposes of identity theft?

I just did a few searches in states that *I* remember living in, and
came up with nothing. Always made sure that I went to the site that
had
(name of state).gov in it (some it's the treasury that handles the
unclaimed, some (like here in Indiana) it the attourney general).

.gov, certainly. The State Treasurer or the Controllers office. Places
with a phone number that don't redirect you to India. LOL

I don't even know what prompted me to search for my mother's name.
Maybe
because I got a property tax refund from 2009 after bitching,
complaining
and filling out forms and they kept saying "no, you really do owe $2000
more
than last year". Then they realized I'd been taxed at the wrong rate
and
sent me a refund. Or maybe it's because the SSA sent me claim forms
saying
they'd failed to pay my parents' some money... I filled out the forms
and
sure enough. Just got a nice fat deposit from the SSA.

And no (to Sherry, not to you MMJ) I'm not sharing any of it with my
brothers. I paid $33,000 in taxes for an inheritance they got scott
free
because the annuity was reported under my SSN. According to her
attorney I
could have legally kept all the money but I didn't. In accordance with
her
Will I split everything three ways. But ya know, she left me the house.
And my brother Scott expected me to sell the house and give him a third
of
that, too. Why he felt entitled to that I don't know. He's not the one
who
moved here and took care of her.

And then when the tax bill came on that annuity... did they offer to
help
pay it? Nope. The IRS did their best to help me, but I still had to
pay
$33,000. My brothers got their third, I paid the taxes. I'll be angry
about that to the end of my days. Bitter? You betcha. Sharing this
little
windfall (who knows... might be just a couple of bucks)... nope, don't
think
so.

Jill

Ooo...sorry Jill; I didn't mean to set off a hot button. :-)

It IS a hot button. My brothers never did a thing to help take care of
our parents. They certainly did take 1/3rd of the money.

What even brought about that train of thought is....when I did the
paperwork to claim my dad's cash, I fully expected to have to show up
with a death
certificate, will, and probate papers, and they'd cut a check equally
among heirs.
I was shocked that I didn't have to show any of that. IIRC. I may have
had to show
the probate papers.
And the full amount came made out to me. I split it with her anyway.
We each got
enough to buy dinner and a tank of gas. :0-)
Since yours is a life insurancy policy, you could possibly end up with
a very tidy sum.
Hope so.

Sherry

I've got death certificates, probate papers, Wills. You name it. But I'm
not splitting whatever paultry amount this turns out to be with my
brothers. They didn't help me pay the taxes on their inheiritance and they
didn't help me take care of our parents, either. When Mom finally
admitted Dad wasn't "himself" (he had altzheimers) I came here. I got him
to eat. I did the grocery shopping, the cooking, the cleaning. I
arranged for their medical care. I made sure the bills were paid. I
basically took over... and that's what happens with children when their
parents get older.

And after they died my middle brother (he's the one I have the problem
with) expected me to sell the house and give him a third of those
proceeds, too. Uh, that would be a no. Then he sent me a bill for
attending her funeral because I refused to sell the house and split the
proceeds. Oh, really? No one said you had to attend her funeral. You
expect me to pay for a suite at the Hilton Garden Inn? Oh, and the bar
and restaurant bills. Excuse me?!

I let her lawyer deal with that. Then he threatened to contest the Will
and the lawyer said, "Oh, feel free! You'll have to hire an attorney,
which will cost you thousands of dollars. And since I wrote your mother's
Will I'll be testifying on Jill's behalf. Your mother made her wishes
very clear, she wanted Jill to have the house." The only thing my middle
brother was ever interested in was the how much money he was going to get.
He always was a greedy SOB.

AFAIC he owes me $11,000. So no, giving him any portion of unclaimed
property is simply ridiculous. I don't expect this to be a lot of money.
If I can go out to lunch with my neighbor or maybe buy a new dress, I'll
be happy with that

Jill

I'd say what I think of your brothers, but I don't use that kind of
language.

When my mother was 80, she moved, along with my sister and brother-in-law,
from California to Alaska. They bought a two-story house, and my mother had
her own apartment downstairs, but they were always together. My sister
would go downstairs to visit with my mother for a while every morning before
she went to work. When she got home, she'd stop in to see my mother. Mama
did have her own car until she was 90, but they often took her places with
them, and they made sure she got the proper medical care. I did fly up
there to help encourage Mama to go into a long-term care facility when she
really wasn't able to care for herself any more, but my sister had the main
responsibility, including power of attorney.

A few years after they moved to Alaska, my mother mentioned her will, and I
told her I thought she should leave everything to my sister. She didn't,
but my sister deserved it, just as you did. I think you have been
incredibly generous with your brothers.

Joy



I feel the same way about my mother... my eldest brother has "taken care
of" mom since I moved to Houston in 1991. She's still quite healthy at
86, drives to her own appointments, is very sharp mentally, etc. But he
did things like cut her grass, helped when moving her to an "assisted
living" apartment, took her with them whenever they had to evacuate
because of 'canes, gave her things I couldn't afford (like a new TV),
and I'm sure will take her into their home if she ever needs that help.
I wouldn't be at all upset if she left him all of whatever she has
when she passes to the Bridge.

--
Hugs,

CatNipped
See all our masters at: http://www.PossiblePlaces.com/CatNipped

See the RPCA FAQ site, created by "Yowie", maintained by Mark Edwards, at:
http://www.professional-geek.net/rpcablog/

Email: L(dot)T(dot)Crews(at)comcast(dot)net

"Joy" wrote in message
...
"jmcquown" wrote in message
...

"Sherry" wrote in message
And no (to Sherry, not to you MMJ) I'm not sharing any of it with my
brothers. I paid $33,000 in taxes for an inheritance they got scott
free

ooops, should have said 'scot' free. What a strange euphamism! Yes, we
Scots are allegedly frugal. G

because the annuity was reported under my SSN. According to her
attorney I could have legally kept all the money but I didn't. In
accordance with her Will I split everything three ways. But ya know,
she left me the house.
(snippage)

Ooo...sorry Jill; I didn't mean to set off a hot button. :-)

It IS a hot button. My brothers never did a thing to help take care of
our parents. They certainly did take 1/3rd of the money.

Since yours is a life insurancy policy, you could possibly end up with
a very tidy sum.
Hope so.

Sherry

And after they died my middle brother (he's the one I have the problem
with) expected me to sell the house and give him a third of those
proceeds, too. Uh, that would be a no. Then he sent me a bill for
attending her funeral because I refused to sell the house and split the
proceeds. Oh, really? No one said you had to attend her funeral. You
expect me to pay for a suite at the Hilton Garden Inn? Oh, and the bar
and restaurant bills. Excuse me?!

I let her lawyer deal with that. Then he threatened to contest the Will
and the lawyer said, "Oh, feel free! You'll have to hire an attorney,
which will cost you thousands of dollars. And since I wrote your
mother's Will I'll be testifying on Jill's behalf. Your mother made her
wishes very clear, she wanted Jill to have the house." The only thing my
middle brother was ever interested in was the how much money he was going
to get. He always was a greedy SOB.

AFAIC he owes me $11,000. So no, giving him any portion of unclaimed
property is simply ridiculous. I don't expect this to be a lot of money.
If I can go out to lunch with my neighbor or maybe buy a new dress, I'll
be happy with that

Jill

I'd say what I think of your brothers, but I don't use that kind of
language.

LOL Thanks, Joy. I use that kind of language from time to time. My oldest
brother turned out to be the be one who helped. He came down here, rented a
truck, I contacted someone I knew to help us hire movers and a Penske truck.
I wrote him a check for the truck and to pay for gas and hotel rooms for the
drive back. He delivered all the stuff my *other* brother wanted on his way
to his home in Texas. That came out of the estate. And they each got nice
fat checks later.

When my mother was 80, she moved, along with my sister and brother-in-law,
from California to Alaska. They bought a two-story house, and my mother
had her own apartment downstairs, but they were always together. My
sister would go downstairs to visit with my mother for a while every
morning before she went to work. When she got home, she'd stop in to see
my mother. Mama did have her own car until she was 90, but they often
took her places with them, and they made sure she got the proper medical
care. I did fly up there to help encourage Mama to go into a long-term
care facility when she really wasn't able to care for herself any more,
but my sister had the main responsibility, including power of attorney.

A few years after they moved to Alaska, my mother mentioned her will, and
I told her I thought she should leave everything to my sister. She
didn't, but my sister deserved it, just as you did. I think you have been
incredibly generous with your brothers.

Joy
Thank you, Joy. It sounds like you equally deserve it. One can't always be
there.

Jill

"MaryL" wrote in message
. ..


"jmcquown" wrote in message
...


"EvelynVogtGamble(Divamanque)" wrote in
message
...
Just so you do it through an OFFICIAL government web-site you
contact directly! Have you noticed how may scams there are
out there that offer some similar benefit, whose only purpose
is to get you to share personal info for purposes of identity
theft?

I'm not that obtuse. I'd like to hope most people here aren't.

Jill

- - - - - - - - - - -

Still, it's a good warning. Many of those scamming web sites
have become sophisticated and are designed to look exactly like
government web sites. They are not nearly as obvious as the
"collect your millions of dollars" scams that are sent to your
mail boxes.


A friend of mine recently got caught out by a similar scheme. In
the European Union, citizens of all nations can apply for a
European Health Identity Card (EHIC), to provide free or reduced
cost healthcare in EU member states other than their own. It's
free to apply for this card, *provided* the official web site is
used. Said friend used a web site that charged £17.00 to provide
the card. If one reads the "small print" on these unofficial web
sites, they state the charge is for something like "checking the
correct completion of the form, and for administration costs".

Here's the official site:
https://www.ehic.org.uk/Internet/home.do

And here's an "unnoficial" site that charges for the "check and
send" service (this is the top result in Google if searching for
EHIC):

http://www.applyehic.org/?gclid=CL-V...FUkf4QodmUONzw

--
MatSav