Is Your Life Insurance Active? Here's How To Check

It can be challenging to determine whether a loved one had life insurance, and millions of dollars in benefits go unclaimed each year. If you've recently lost someone and are unsure if they had a life insurance policy, there are several steps you can take to find out. Firstly, speak with family and close friends, as they may have information about the policy or know the name of the insurance company or agent. Secondly, review the deceased's documents, both physical and digital, for any clues or policy-related information. This includes checking bank statements for premium payments or indications of whole life policy usage. Additionally, reach out to the deceased's advisors, such as accountants, attorneys, or financial professionals, as they may have relevant insights. You can also try using a life insurance policy locator, such as those offered by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) and the National Association of Unclaimed Property Administrators. These tools can assist in finding lost policies, but you must be an interested party with the legal right to access the information.

Check online databases

Checking online databases is a good way to find a lost life insurance policy. There are a few databases that serve as life insurance policy locators. These databases offer a life insurance policy search by name feature that may help you find your loved one's policy information.

The National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) has a Life Insurance Policy Locator service to help consumers locate benefits from life insurance policies or annuity contracts purchased in the United States. This is a free service. To use it, navigate to naic.org, hover over Consumer, and click Life Insurance Policy Locator under Tools. You will then need to agree to the terms of use and enter your name, mailing address, and email address. You will also need to submit the deceased's information from their death certificate, including their Social Security number, veteran status, and your relationship to the deceased. If a policy is found and you are the beneficiary, the life insurance or annuity company will contact you directly.

The National Association of Unclaimed Property Administrators is another database you can use to search for unclaimed policies. You can search through various state databases from this main site.

MIB (NAIC) is a company that helps people find lost or missing life insurance policies through its policy locator service. The company has a unique database of processed life insurance applications. However, note that it is a paid service.

MissingMoney.com is another website that contains state records of unclaimed funds and is endorsed by the National Association of Unclaimed Property Administrators (NAUPA).

Contact insurance companies

If you know the name of the insurance company that issued the policy, you can reach out to them directly. This will likely require you to submit proof that you are a beneficiary, such as your driver's license or social security number, and the policyholder's death certificate. If you are unsure which company issued the policy, you can try contacting insurance companies in the community where the deceased lived.

Before reaching out to the insurance company, it is a good idea to gather as much information as possible. This includes the deceased's legal first and last name, any former names, their social security number, proof of your own identity, and their last and former addresses, especially for long-time residences. If the deceased served in the military and you believe they had life insurance through the Veterans Administration, it is also helpful to have any discharge papers or other records of their service.

When you contact the insurance company, explain your situation and ask them how you can proceed. They will likely ask for the information mentioned above to verify your identity and confirm your status as a beneficiary. If you are indeed a beneficiary, the insurance company will inform you of the steps to submit a claim.

It is important to note that life insurance companies must protect the privacy of the policyholder, even after their passing. Therefore, only certain individuals are typically granted access to policy information, including next of kin, estate executors, and policy beneficiaries. If you fall into one of these categories, the insurance company should provide you with the necessary assistance in locating the policy and initiating the claims process.

Review personal documents

If you are the policyholder, the best way to check if your life insurance is active is to contact the insurance company. They will be able to confirm the status of your policy. You can also refer to your personal records, which should contain evidence of a life insurance policy.

If you are checking on behalf of a deceased loved one, you will need to review their personal documents. Here are some steps you can take:

Review their physical and digital documents

Look through the deceased's personal belongings, papers, files, and any places they may have used to store important documents. This includes their mail, checkbook registers, computers, and mobile phones. You can also check their bank statements for premium payments or indications that they tapped into the cash value of a whole life policy, such as funds transferred from a life insurance company into their account.

Contact their financial institutions

Reach out to the banks where the deceased held accounts. They may be able to provide information about any safe deposit boxes or life insurance policies purchased through the bank.

Review their financial records

Examine the deceased's financial records for evidence of payment of life insurance premiums. Check their cancelled checks, bank statements, credit card statements, and other payment records. Since life insurance premiums may be paid at various intervals (e.g., annually, quarterly, or monthly), be sure to review records from the several years prior to their death.

Review their tax returns

The deceased's income tax returns can provide valuable information. Look for interest income or interest expense associated with an insurance company, as insurance companies may charge or pay interest on life insurance policies or annuity contracts.

Contact their previous employers

Get in touch with the deceased's last place of employment or prior employers to determine if they had insurance (individual or group) issued through their employer. Group life insurance and annuities purchased through an employer plan are often maintained by the employer, so it's important to check with them even if the insurer says they have no record of coverage.

Contact their advisors and close contacts

Frequently, a trusted financial advisor, insurance agent, accountant, or personal lawyer will have information about the deceased's insurance policy. You can also check with their spiritual advisors, friends, and other important people in their life.

Review their contacts

Look through the deceased's address and telephone books, email accounts, and other contact lists for the names of insurance companies, agents, and brokers.

By following these steps and reviewing the personal documents of your deceased loved one, you can gather the information needed to determine the status of their life insurance policy.

Ask family and friends

If you are trying to find out whether a deceased loved one had life insurance, one of the first steps you can take is to ask family and friends. They might know about a policy you've never heard of, as the deceased may have mentioned it to them at some point.

People close to the deceased may have information about the policy, such as where it was stored, the names of beneficiaries, or the name of the insurance company. If the deceased had an insurance agent, their contacts might have this information listed.

You can also ask family and friends for help in tracking down the deceased's insurance agent, accountant, attorney, or financial professional, who may be able to provide more information.

It is also worth contacting the deceased's last place of employment (or prior employers) to determine if there was insurance (individual or group) issued through their employer. Group life insurance and annuities purchased through an employer plan are often recorded by the employer rather than the insurer, so it is important to check with the deceased's employer(s) even if the insurer says they have no record of coverage.

In addition, you can ask family and friends to help review the deceased's financial records for evidence of payment of life insurance premiums or annuity deposits. As life insurance premiums may be paid at various intervals (e.g., annually, quarterly, monthly) and deposits to annuity contracts may be irregular, it is recommended to review records for the several years prior to death. Cancelled cheques, bank statements, credit card statements, and other payment records should be examined.

Finally, family and friends can help review the deceased's mail for a period of at least one year after their death for premium notices, annual reports, privacy notices, or other communications from an insurance company or agent.

Contact the deceased's employer

If you believe that your loved one had life insurance through their employer, you should contact their last place of employment, as well as any previous employers. This is because it is common for employers to maintain the records relating to individual employees' group life insurance or annuities purchased through an employer plan. Even if the insurer says they have no record of life insurance coverage for the deceased, it is important to check with their employer(s).

When contacting the deceased's employer(s), you should ask whether the deceased was a certificate holder of an employer-provided group life policy. You may need to provide some basic information about the deceased, such as their date of birth, date of death, and last known address.

If the deceased was a certificate holder of a group life policy provided by their employer, the employer should be able to provide you with information about the policy, such as the name of the insurance company and the policy number. With this information, you can then contact the insurance company directly to find out more about the policy and whether you are a beneficiary.

It is important to note that you will likely need to provide proof that you are a beneficiary of the policy, such as a driver's license or social security number, as well as the policyholder's death certificate. If you are not a beneficiary, the insurer may not be able to provide you with any information due to privacy laws.

Frequently asked questions