Can You Look Up if Someone Has a Life Insurance Policy?
Navigating the process of locating a deceased person's life insurance policy can be complex. Learn effective strategies to uncover these vital assets.
Locating a deceased individual’s life insurance policy can be challenging for families and estate administrators. Unlike other financial assets, life insurance policies are private contracts with no single, publicly accessible database. However, finding these policies is often a financial necessity, as death benefits are crucial for beneficiaries and estate administration. Millions of dollars in life insurance benefits remain unclaimed each year because beneficiaries are unaware of their existence or cannot locate policy documents.
Conducting a Personal Search
Initial steps to uncover a life insurance policy involve reviewing the deceased’s personal records and contacting close associates.
Begin by examining physical documents like filing cabinets, desk drawers, and safe deposit boxes. These often contain policy documents, premium notices, or correspondence from insurers.
Explore digital files on computers, in email accounts, or cloud storage for electronic policy documents, insurer emails, or premium payment records.
Review financial statements, such as bank activity, for recurring premium payments. Tax returns might show interest income from cash-value policies or premium deductions.
Beyond personal records, contact individuals and organizations who managed the deceased’s affairs for valuable leads. Financial advisors, attorneys, and accountants often retain insurance policy records.
Contact current and former employers, as many offer group life insurance coverage as an employee benefit. Unions, professional organizations, or associations may also provide group policies or information on individual policies.
Additionally, check for riders or endorsements on existing property and casualty insurance policies (e.g., home or auto insurance). These can sometimes indicate the same insurer also issued a life insurance policy.
Leveraging Official Search Tools
If personal searches are unsuccessful, several official tools and resources can help locate life insurance policies. These tools require specific information about the deceased to initiate a search.
National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC)
The National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) offers a free online Life Insurance Policy Locator service. This tool allows beneficiaries or executors to submit a search request to participating life insurance companies nationwide. The NAIC forwards your request to insurers who then search their records for a match.
To submit a request, you will need:
The deceased’s full legal name
Social Security Number or Individual Taxpayer Identification Number
Date of birth
Date of death
Last known address
Your relationship to the deceased
If a participating insurer finds a policy naming you as beneficiary, they will contact you directly, usually within 90 days.
Medical Information Bureau (MIB)
The Medical Information Bureau (MIB) is another resource, though its function differs from a direct policy locator. MIB operates as an information exchange for life and health insurance companies during underwriting.
While MIB does not reveal active policies or beneficiaries, an MIB report can indicate if the deceased applied for life insurance, showing which companies accessed their MIB file. This can provide names of insurers to contact directly.
Requesting an MIB report requires proper authorization, such as being the estate’s executor. For a deceased individual’s request, you will need their full name, date of birth, place of birth, and Social Security Number. The information in an MIB report remains for approximately seven years.
Unclaimed Property Divisions
Unclaimed life insurance proceeds are eventually turned over to state unclaimed property divisions. Every state maintains such a division, and their databases are publicly searchable.
Search the unclaimed property databases of the deceased’s last state of residence, and any other states where they may have lived or worked. These searches require the deceased’s name and last known address. Many states participate in MissingMoney.com, a free website managed by the National Association of Unclaimed Property Administrators (NAUPA), which aggregates data from multiple states to simplify searching.
Steps After Locating a Policy
Once a life insurance policy is identified, contact the issuing insurance company. This initiates the claims process and formally notifies them of the policyholder’s death.
Find the insurer’s contact information on the policy document or their official website. The company will require specific documentation to verify the policy, claimant’s identity, and eligibility.
A certified copy of the death certificate is required to prove the policyholder’s passing. Obtain several certified copies from the funeral home or vital records office, as multiple institutions may require them.
Provide proof of your identity (typically government-issued ID) and your relationship to the deceased if you are the named beneficiary. The insurer will provide a claim form to be completed, detailing information about the deceased and the claimant.
Upon receiving these documents, the insurer will explain their process and timelines for reviewing and processing the claim.