In this article:When a loved one dies, sorting through everything they left behind can seem overwhelming. And while dealing with paperwork while you're grieving is the last thing you want to do, life insurance benefits can be crucial for covering funeral costs, settling the person's debts or helping surviving family members pay their bills. Show
What if you don't know whether your loved one had life insurance or you can't locate their policy? To find a loved one's lost insurance policy, you can search their records, contact their financial advisors or check their safe deposit box. Read on for other ways to find a missing life insurance policy. Even if you're listed as the beneficiary on a life insurance policy, the insurance carrier won't automatically contact you. Insurance carriers generally don't know of a policyholder's death until someone tells them or until they check the Death Master File maintained by the Social Security Administration (SSA). The Unclaimed Life Insurance Benefits Act requires most insurance carriers to check this file at least semi-annually, looking for policyholders whose death benefits haven't been claimed. If they find a match, they must make a good faith effort to find the beneficiary within 90 days. The Unclaimed Life Insurance Benefits Act does not apply in every state, but most big insurance carriers comply with its recommendations. Even so, the SSA's Death Master File doesn't include every deceased person, only those who had their death reported to the SSA. Survivors often need life insurance benefits long before the insurance company checks the SSA's file. To locate a lost life insurance policy, here are 10 things you can do. 1. Search Their FilesLook through your loved one's paper and computer files for the life insurance policy. You may find a copy of an application for life insurance, which can also help: In addition to indicating a possible insurance policy, the application will include a list of any other life insurance policies they had at the time they submitted their application. 2. Search Online3. Ask Their Financial AdvisorsYour loved one's financial planner, accountant, attorney or insurance agent may know of existing life insurance policies. 4. Contact Their Home or Auto Insurance CompanyPeople often bundle multiple types of insurance, such as buying homeowners insurance and life insurance from the same company. Contact the claims or customer service department of the company where your loved one had home or auto insurance to see if there is also a life insurance policy. 5. Contact Their Current and Former EmployersMany employers offer group term life insurance as an employee benefit. Some companies even offer this insurance to spouses or dependents. Check with past and current employers of your loved one, their surviving spouse and their children for life insurance policies through their company. 6. Look Through Their Bank RecordsBank statements or checks showing payments to insurance companies could help you track down a life insurance policy. You may need to contact bank officials to access their records and provide proof that you are entitled to this information. 7. Check Their Safe Deposit BoxIf you have the key to your loved one's safe deposit box, ask the bank how to gain access. You'll likely have to provide documents proving your kinship. If you're not sure whether they had a safe deposit box, you can contact the bank where they had their accounts, look through canceled checks or bank records for payments to a bank, or watch their mail for notices requesting payment for the box. 8. Contact Organizations to Which Your Loved One BelongedContact professional associations, labor unions, fraternal organizations, credit unions and other groups that your loved one belonged to. Like employers, organizations often offer group term life insurance for members. 9. Review Their Tax ReturnsIncome tax returns may show interest income from a permanent life insurance policy with cash value. If your family member borrowed against a life insurance policy, the returns should show any interest paid on the loan. 10. Watch Their Mail and EmailLife insurance companies often send bills, statements, dividend notices and other updates. Monitor the person's mail and email for at least a year for this type of letter. Have physical mail redirected to your address or a P.O. box to prevent it from falling into the hands of identity thieves. If an insurance payout goes unclaimed long enough, the policy may end up as unclaimed property. This generally takes about three years, but this varies depending on the state. If a few years have passed and you haven't found a life insurance policy, you can use The National Association of Unclaimed Property Administrators' free search tool or MissingMoney.com to search for unclaimed property. Once you find your relative's life insurance policy, you or other beneficiaries will have different options for how to receive the death benefit. Getting advice from a financial planner can help you make smart decisions during an emotional time. Used wisely, the proceeds of a life insurance policy can help you pay down debt, maintain a good credit score and live the life your loved one wanted for you.
There are several things you can do to find out if someone left behind a life insurance policy when he or she died. To find an unclaimed life insurance policy, talk with friends and relatives, check personal records the deceased left behind and contact your state insurance commissioner’s office. 
Key Takeaways
If a person with a life insurance policy dies, but his or her beneficiaries are unaware of the coverage, it is an unclaimed life insurance policy. This is relatively common and can happen for several reasons. Reasons a Life Insurance Policy May Be Unclaimed
The amount of unclaimed life insurance benefits in the United States topped $1 billion dollars by 2013, according to Consumer Reports. At the time, the average payout was $2,000 and some were as much as $300,000. Consumer Reports estimates that the odds that you are a beneficiary of an unclaimed life insurance payout is about one in 600 — better than your chances of winning the Powerball lottery.
There are several ways to find a life insurance policy when someone dies. These include internet tools and some detective work on your own. The National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) — a group that represents the chief insurance regulators of each of the 50 United States, the District of Columbia and U.S. Territories — has an online tool that can help track down unclaimed life insurance policies. Once you fill out an online form on the policy locator tool, the NAIC will ask participating insurance companies to scour their records to see if they have a life insurance policy in the name of the deceased person you listed on the form. The companies will also look for policies that name you as a beneficiary. The NAIC tool has been around since 2016. More than 145,000 people had used it as of July 31, 2020. In that time, the policy locator had found 46,665 matches with claims totaling $650,520,451.
Life Insurance Policy Locator Source: National Association of Insurance Commissioners
The NAIC locator tool only works with participating life insurance companies. If it doesn’t turn up a match, you can still do some work on your own to track down a missing or lost life insurance policy. 14 Ways to Find a Lost or Unclaimed Life Insurance Policy
If the insurance company has changed its name, has gone out of business or has been bought out by another insurer, you may be able to do an internet search to find out what company currently has its assets and policies. Once you have the new name, find the state of the company’s home office and contact that state’s insurance commission or department. You can find a list of insurance company names and home office addresses in “A.M. Best’s Insurance Reports,” an annually updated report on companies. It is available in many larger libraries. Never Miss Important News or Updates Get money-saving tips, hard-to-find info and tactics for a successful retirement in our free weekly newsletter.
To claim a death benefit payout from a life insurance policy you will need two things: A copy of the life insurance policy and a copy of the policyholder’s death certificate. A death certificate is a legal document recording a person’s death. Obtaining a death certificate copy is likely easier and more straightforward than tracking down a lost or unclaimed life insurance policy. Where to Obtain a Death Certificate
Death certificates are public records in some, but not all states. In some states, you will need to provide proof of your relationship to the deceased. In those cases, generally only immediate family members, government agencies, the executor of the deceased’s estate and funeral directors can request an official copy. To request a copy, you’ll need to show a valid government-issued photo ID such as a driver’s license and proof of your relationship to the deceased such as a birth certificate or marriage license. The life insurance company will also have its own rules on how to submit the death certificate. This varies from company to company, so you should check with the company about its requirements before submitting the death certificate along with the policy.
Last Modified: July 28, 2022 |
How to locate unclaimed life insurance policies
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