If your jurisdiction moved from another system to GovWell, it is likely that your business license from the previous system was migrated to GovWell in the process. In this article, we will show you how you can claim your business licenses in GovWell!

When a jurisdiction starts using GovWell, it is common for data from the previous system to be migrated into GovWell. Typically, each record – such as business licenses – gets linked to the email addresses from the previous system. However, as time goes on, your business may see changes in representatives, employees, email providers, and more. This means that the email address you used to submit your license application in the previous system may not be the same one you currently use, so you may not immediately see your existing licenses upon logging in to GovWell for the first time.

License Claiming provides you, the license holder, with a simple self-service path to connect your imported records to your current account – without needing to call your local jurisdiction staff or re-apply from scratch.

There are three ways that you, as a business license holder, can claim your imported license in GovWell:

When importing data, GovWell imports all personal information exactly as it appears in the previous system. If you create your GovWell account with the same email address you used in the previous system, GovWell will be able to match and link your new account to your imported records. An email notification letting you know that you can access and manage your license will be sent to your inbox as soon as the license is successfully imported to GovWell – simply sign in using the same email address!

If your current email address is different from the one you used to submit the original application in the previous system, but you still have access to the original email, the claim portal allows you to access your imported license with a GovWell account associated with a new email address.

If our system cannot automatically link an existing GovWell account to the email in the imported record, you should receive an email giving you the option to sign up with a new email address and use a claim code, or search for the license in the public portal.

Access the public claim portal using the Claim on the public portal button, or through the Claim an existing license option in your jurisdiction's portal (this option will only appear when there are unclaimed imported licenses in the system). In this portal, you will find two options: Enter a claim code and Search for your license.

Enter the 3-word code you received in the notification email into the claim code prompt to look up your license.

An Is This Your License? screen with a preview of your license (business name, address, record number, and license status) will appear. If the details are correct, click the Yes, this is my license button to confirm the claim.

Since the code proves you had access to the original inbox, the claim is completed instantly and the email on the record gets updated to your current one.

Alternatively, if you don't have a code (the email was lost, the code expired, etc.), you can manually search for your license by number, business name, or address. If there are any matches, a list of results will appear.

Click on the license you want to claim and the Is This Your License? screen mentioned above will appear.

Click Yes, this is my license to claim the license. After selecting the license and signing in, the claim is submitted for staff review since there is no code to verify ownership. Your jurisdiction staff will be notified of your claim request and will complete a task to approve or reject it.