How To Find Unclaimed Life Insurance Policies (2024)

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You may not know if a loved one who passed away had a life insurance policy or not. Or, you may know one exists but are uncertain of its whereabouts or what steps to take once you find it.

We’ll outline how to locate lost or unclaimed life insurance policies. It involves doing some simple detective work on your own, and there are online policy finder tools you can use, too.

What Is an Unclaimed Life Insurance Policy?

An unclaimed life insurance policy comes about when the policyholder passes away, and the beneficiary doesn’t contact the insurer to receive the death benefit. It could be that the beneficiary is unaware of the policy, forgot about it, has incomplete information or cannot locate the policy.

Once you’re aware that a life insurance policy does exist, there are actions to take to try and track the unclaimed life insurance policy down.

Search Financial Records, Personal Files and Tax Forms

Begin close to home and search personal records. These include files, safe deposit boxes and address books. If you find the names of insurance agents, brokers and financial advisers, you can call to see if they kept their own records. Bank and credit card statements might also show premium payments to a life insurance company.

And don’t ignore the departed’s IRS tax returns. A tax form and supplemental filings could show interest income from a permanent life insurance policy with cash value. Income tax returns may also show the interest paid on any loans if the deceased borrowed against their life insurance policy.

If possible, check the deceased person’s mail and email. The life insurance company may have sent a notice on the status of the policy, on dividends or on cash value amounts, if, for instance, they had a universal life insurance policy.

If you are able to find out which homeowners insurance company and car insurance company your loved one used, reach out to the claims or customer service staff. People sometimes bundle life insurance with their auto or home insurance company.

Check With Past Employers, Professional Groups

Now expand the search by reviewing employers and other professional affiliations. Where had the policyholder worked and did an employer provide term life insurance or a whole life insurance option that the decedent chose? Was the relative or friend who died a member of a fraternal or professional association or union that gave them a policy?

Search Company Websites to Locate Life Insurance Policies

Another option is to go to life insurance company websites and see if they have online search tools you can use. Some major life insurance companies have policy locators to help potential beneficiaries determine if they’re able to collect.

Companies with policy locators include:

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Government, State and Industry Life Insurance Policy Finders

During your search, you might find that the life insurance company contacts you. Insurers often use the Social Security Administration’s “Death Master” file, which keeps records of all its recipients who died. Insurers compare their records to it.

The Unclaimed Life Insurance Benefits Act requires most life insurance companies to check this database at least twice a year to find unclaimed life insurance policies. If a match is found, they must try to find the beneficiary within 90 days. The Unclaimed Life Insurance Benefits Act has been enacted in over 30 states but still doesn’t apply to every state. Also, only deaths reported to the Social Security Association are included.

The New York Department of Financial Services has a “lost policy finder.” It lets the executor or administrator of an estate, or even a member of the deceased’s immediate family or closest relative, create a search request, provided they submit basic information and a copy of the death certificate.

Other states that have online policy finders include:

  • Alabama
  • Illinois
  • Kansas
  • Louisiana
  • Michigan
  • Missouri
  • North Carolina
  • Ohio
  • Oregon
  • Rhode Island
  • Texas

Your own state comptroller’s Unclaimed Property Office could be helpful. If an insurer knows the policyholder died but couldn’t find the beneficiary, it must turn the death benefit over to the state. To find your state’s comptroller, use the free tool put out by the National Association of Unclaimed Property Administrators.

While there is no national database for all life insurance policies, you can try using the NAIC’s Life Insurance Policy Locator Service. It’s a free tool, though you must have basic information about the person who passed and be a possible beneficiary to search records of participating life insurance companies.

Paying for Help To Locate Life Insurance Policies

Several search services are available online but usually charge for their services.

There is also a national database for all individual life insurance policy applications made to U.S. and Canadian insurers. If the deceased applied for a policy after 1996, MIB Group will probably have a record of the insurance company to which they applied. It costs $75 to get a report.

Filing a Life Insurance Claim

Finding a life insurance policy is no guarantee of collecting the death benefit—you have to be named as a beneficiary. And, you could be one of several beneficiaries, which means you would not get the entire payout.

If you are named as a beneficiary, filing a life insurance claim can be relatively straightforward if:

  • The company is still in business.
  • The policy hasn’t lapsed.
  • The deceased didn’t lie on their application.

To file a life insurance claim, you typically need:

  • The life insurance policy.
  • A death certificate, which can usually be obtained from the local department of health.
  • A filled-out claim form (forms can usually be found on the life insurance company’s website).

Don’t Let Your Life Insurance Policy Go Unclaimed

A search for someone else’s life insurance policy is a reminder to put your own affairs in order. Be sure to tell your life insurance beneficiaries and your family members where to find your life insurance policy and related documents. If you have it in a safe deposit box, make sure they have access.

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How To Find Unclaimed Life Insurance Policies (2024)

FAQs

Is there a database to search life insurance policies? ›

To help solve this issue, the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) created the Life Insurance Policy Locator, a free online tool that helps consumers find their deceased loved one's life insurance policies and annuity contracts.

How do I find a life insurance policy for a deceased person? ›

The NAIC has a free online search database that you can use to help find an unclaimed life insurance policy. All you have to do is simply go to their website and submit a request. You'll need the deceased's death certificate, social security number, full name, date of birth, and date of death.

How to find out if a life insurance policy is still valid? ›

To find out if a life insurance policy is valid, you can check with the National Association of Insurance Commissioners.

What happens to unclaimed life insurance policies? ›

Unclaimed life insurance policy proceeds are turned over to the state in which the insured is last known to have resided (often with interest) after a certain number of years have passed, following state laws on unclaimed property.

Can someone take out life insurance on me without me knowing? ›

A third party can't take out a life insurance policy on you without your knowledge and consent. The person must first notify you of their intentions, and obtain your formal agreement to the policy.

Can you look up someone's life insurance policy? ›

If you suspect that a loved one had a life policy, the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) has created a Life Insurance Policy Locator service to help consumers locate benefits from life insurance policies or annuity contracts purchased anywhere in the United States.

How long after death do you have to collect life insurance? ›

There's no deadline for filing a life insurance death benefit claim — that's good news if you're concerned about how long after death you have to collect life insurance.

How to find out if someone took out a life insurance policy on you? ›

You might want to 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. Another great resource could be your state's Department of Insurance (DOI).

How do you know if you're the beneficiary of someone's life insurance? ›

The easiest way to learn if you are a life insurance beneficiary is to talk to the policyholder if they are still alive. They can tell you whether you're a beneficiary and provide information necessary to claim the death benefit when they pass away.

Is an old life insurance policy worth anything? ›

In some cases, the policy is worth up to 60% of its death benefit on the secondary market. Life settlement proceeds can be used for any purpose, including debt paydown, healthcare bills, or even bucket-list spending. Viatical settlement proceeds are normally used to pay for end-of-life care.

What happens if you can't find your life insurance policy? ›

If you misplaced a life insurance policy, but you have been paying premiums regularly, you're in luck—usually you can get a new copy of the policy. You can do this simply by calling the insurance company to explain the situation.

Does life insurance expire if not claimed? ›

In such cases, a state's unclaimed property division may hold the policy until a claim is made. It's also possible that an insurance company will cancel an individual policy if there is no activity for a certain period.

What happens if a beneficiary does not claim life insurance after? ›

The beneficiaries will never receive payment if they do not claim the life insurance benefits. The money can remain with the life insurance company for a certain period, but as you will see below, the life insurance company does not keep the money forever.

Do you get life insurance if you disappear? ›

Legal Declaration of Death: After the required period has passed without the missing person being found, a court can declare the person legally dead. This declaration is often necessary for the life insurance claim to proceed.

Can creditors go after life insurance after death? ›

Life insurance

In most cases, the death benefit goes directly to your beneficiaries and not your estate. That means a creditor cannot make a claim against it. This holds true for a small final expense policy or a whole life policy.

Are life insurance policies public information? ›

Life insurance policies may be listed in public records. The first place to check is your loved one's will. If your loved one went through a divorce, a life insurance policy may be listed as an asset in those proceedings.

Is there an insurance database? ›

The National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) has released the 2020–2021 Auto Insurance Database Report. The report provides information based on data through year-end for the years 2020 and 2021.

How do I find my life insurance policy details? ›

Ans: You can check your life insurance policy details online by logging into the insurer's customer portal and checking the details online.

How do you find out if you are a beneficiary of a life insurance policy? ›

The easiest way to learn if you are a life insurance beneficiary is to talk to the policyholder if they are still alive. They can tell you whether you're a beneficiary and provide information necessary to claim the death benefit when they pass away.

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