Life Insurance Policy: Locating Your Coverage

If you have life insurance but don't know where the policy is, there are several ways to find it. You can start by looking through your personal belongings, such as paperwork, old tax returns, bank statements, and mail. You can also contact your financial advisor or accountant, as they may have information about your life insurance policy. Additionally, you can try searching for your policy online using tools provided by organizations such as the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) or the National Association of Unclaimed Property Administrators (NAUPA). These organizations can help you locate your policy by searching through their records or participating companies' records. You can also try contacting your state insurance department or the insurance company directly, especially if you know which company holds your policy. It is important to note that you may need to provide certain information, such as a death certificate or Social Security number, depending on your specific situation.

Check the National Association of Insurance Commissioners' Life Insurance Policy Locator Service

If you're unsure about the existence of a life insurance policy, or are unable to locate one, it's worth checking the National Association of Insurance Commissioners' (NAIC) Life Insurance Policy Locator (LIPL). This free online tool helps consumers find their deceased loved ones' lost life insurance policies and annuity contracts.

Millions of dollars in life insurance benefits remain unclaimed every year, and beneficiaries often can't find their deceased relative's policies or may not even know that they exist. The NAIC's Life Insurance Policy Locator helps to bridge this gap and connect consumers with their entitled insurance benefits.

To use the NAIC Life Insurance Policy Locator, follow these steps:

• Go to naic.org in your web browser.
• Hover over 'Consumer' and click on 'Life Insurance Policy Locator' under 'Tools'.
• Create an account by entering your email address and name.
• Log in and agree to the terms and conditions.
• Enter your name, mailing address, and email address.
• Submit a search request by entering the deceased's information from their death certificate, including their Social Security number, veteran status, and your relationship to the deceased.
• Click the submit button.

Once you've completed these steps, your request will be stored in a secure, encrypted database. Participating life insurance and annuity companies can access this database through a secure portal. You will receive a confirmation email with the request details you submitted. If a policy is found and you are the beneficiary, the insurance company will contact you directly.

It's important to note that the NAIC does not have any policy or beneficiary information. If no policy is found or you are not the beneficiary, you will not be contacted. For any questions or assistance, you can reach out to the NAIC Help Desk or your state department of insurance.

Contact previous employers

If you believe that you or your loved one had life insurance through an employer, there are several steps you can take to track down the policy. Here are four to six paragraphs with detailed, direct, and instructive content on contacting previous employers to find lost life insurance:

Firstly, identify all the previous employers of the deceased. This includes any companies they worked for, as well as any professional associations, unions, or groups they were a part of. It is possible that life insurance was offered as a group benefit through one of these organizations. Contact the human resources or benefits department of each employer and ask about the group life insurance policy. Provide them with the necessary information, such as the name, employee ID, and dates of employment of the deceased. They may be able to confirm whether there was a life insurance policy in place and provide you with the relevant details.

Check with Trade Unions and Professional Associations:

Trade unions, veterans' associations, alumni associations, and other professional or social organizations sometimes offer group life insurance to their members. If the deceased was a member of any such groups, be sure to contact them to inquire about potential life insurance coverage. They may have records of the policy or be able to direct you to the relevant insurance provider.

Review Employment Contracts and Paperwork:

Review any employment contracts, benefit booklets, or other paperwork related to the deceased's previous employment. Life insurance benefits may be mentioned or outlined in these documents, providing you with valuable information about the policy provider and coverage details.

Contact Current and Former Colleagues:

Reach out to current and former colleagues of the deceased, especially those who may have worked closely with them or been in a supervisory role. They might have knowledge of the company's benefits package, including any life insurance offerings. Additionally, colleagues could provide insight into whether the deceased opted into the life insurance program and, if so, which beneficiaries were designated.

Contact Insurance Companies Directly:

If you have identified any insurance companies that may have provided coverage through the deceased's previous employers, don't hesitate to contact them directly. Even without a policy number, they may be able to search their records using the deceased's name, date of birth, and other identifying information. They can then inform you of any policies in the deceased's name and guide you through the necessary steps to make a claim.

Remember, even if you are the beneficiary, the insurance company may not proactively reach out to you. Taking proactive steps to contact previous employers and relevant organizations can help you locate the life insurance policy and receive the benefits owed.

Check bank statements

If you're trying to find out whether you have life insurance or not, checking your bank statements is a good place to start. Regular payments to an insurance company could indicate that you have a life insurance policy. If you bank online, you can search your transaction history for payments to insurance companies. If you bank in-branch or by post, you can look through your paper bank statements.

If you find evidence of payments to an insurance company, you could contact them directly to ask if you have a life insurance policy. If you don't recognise the company, it could be the case that you have multiple insurance policies, so it's worth checking your records for any other insurance companies you may have used.

If you can't find any evidence of payments to an insurance company, it could be that you have a different type of insurance policy, such as a whole life insurance policy, which is paid in a lump sum rather than regular payments. In this case, you could try contacting insurance companies directly to ask if you have a policy with them.

If you're looking for a loved one's life insurance policy, checking their bank statements can also be a good place to start. As well as looking for regular payments to insurance companies, you could also look for evidence of a lump sum payment. If you find evidence of a lump sum payment, you could try contacting insurance companies to ask if your loved one had a whole life insurance policy with them.

If you're a beneficiary of a loved one's life insurance policy, it's important to make a claim as soon as possible. Most life insurance companies will continue to charge payments after the policyholder has passed away, and if they don't receive payment, they may deduct funds from the policy's benefits to cover unpaid premiums.

Contact insurance agents

If you believe you are a beneficiary of a life insurance policy but don't know the details, there are several steps you can take to find out more. Here are some suggestions for contacting insurance agents and locating the relevant policy:

• Check your relative's address book or phone directory for insurance agents they may have worked with. Getting in touch with these agents can help you determine if your relative had a life insurance policy and provide you with information about the insurer.
• Reach out to your relative's auto or home insurance agent. It is possible that your relative purchased life insurance through them or that they have relevant information.
• Contact the employee benefits offices at your relative's former employers. Sometimes, people purchase group life insurance at work, so the employer may have relevant information or records.

Additional Tips

• Review the decedent's records, including those in a safety deposit box. Look for insurance policies, receipts, or evidence of payments to insurance companies.
• Check bank statements and cancelled checks for payments made to life insurance companies. This can help identify the insurer and provide a starting point for your inquiries.
• Review the decedent's income tax records, as they may contain information about insurance policies or payments.
• Utilize the National Association of Insurance Commissioners' (NAIC) Life Insurance Policy Locator Service. This free service allows you to search for policies or annuity contracts purchased in the United States. The companies will search their records, and if they find a policy in the name of the deceased, they will contact you directly if you are the designated beneficiary or authorized legal representative.
• Check with your state's Department of Insurance (DOI) website. Some states have websites where you can input information about the deceased and find out if they had insurance policies. For example, California has the State Controller's Office Life Insurance Settlement Property Search engine, and Texas has the Unclaimed Property website for benefits turned over to the state after three years.

Search for unclaimed benefits

If you think you are a life insurance beneficiary but don't know where the policy is, there are several ways to try to track it down.

Firstly, it's worth noting that many life insurance companies will try to contact beneficiaries if the beneficiaries don't contact them first. However, there is no automatic process that tells them about policyholder deaths, so it's worth taking steps to find out for yourself.

You could start by asking other members of your family if they know anything about the policy. If you can, look through the policyholder's personal papers (digital and physical) for the insurance policy itself, or for life insurance receipts or evidence of payments in a checkbook register. If you think the policyholder may have been covered through their work, contact their former employer or labor union.

If these searches don't help, you could contact the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) for their free Life Insurance Policy Locator Service, which looks for policies on the databases of many insurance companies. You can also try your state's Department of Insurance (DOI); some states have DOI websites where you can enter information about the deceased and find out if they had insurance policies.

If you think the insurance company changed its name or sold the policy to another company, the NAIC provides tips on how to find it. If the company went bankrupt, contact the state life and health guaranty association. The National Organization of Life & Health Insurance Guaranty Associations has a search tool to find your state guaranty association. If the policy was purchased in Canada, reach out to the Canadian Ombudservice for Life and Health Insurance.

There are also fee-based services that can help you find a lost policy, such as the Medical Information Bureau (MIB), an insurance membership corporation that can search for evidence of life insurance applications.

Frequently asked questions