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Can't Find a Life Insurance Policy?
July 2, 2008 04:52:55 PM
Many people purchase life insurance to provide financial security for surviving loved ones. Unfortunately, survivors may not be able to locate the policy when the time comes to cash it in. If you are unable to locate a deceased's life insurance policy, the Insurance information Institute recommends that you first try to determine which insurance company may have issued the policy and/or determine which agent or broker may have sold or serviced the policy. If these steps fail to help you locate the document, you may be able to find information and answers by looking for insurance-related documents in safe deposit boxes, storage boxes, and desk files. The deceased’s address book might include names and addresses of insurance agents and companies. Bankbooks and cancelled checks may indicate payments to life insurance companies over the years.
The deceased’s current and former attorneys, accountants, bankers, and business insurance agents/brokers may have information about any life insurance policies. Former employers or employees may have a record of past policies.
Review income tax forms from the past two years. Look for interest income from, and interest expenses paid to, life insurance companies. Watch the mail for a year following the policyholder’s death for a premium and dividend notices from insurance companies.
If you still cannot locate the policy, you may want to contact the state’s unclaimed property office. A life insurance company must turn the death benefit over to the state in which the policy was purchased if it is aware of a client’s death but is unable to locate the beneficiary. The benefit then becomes “unclaimed property”. The state controller department can determine if there is unclaimed money from life policies belonging to the deceased.
The Insurance Information Institute offers more policy search strategies at:
www.iii.org/individuals/life/help/locatelost
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