Collect Money From A Lost Life Insurance Policy
Every year, at least $1 BILLION in life insurance benefits go unclaimed because the beneficiaries simply don’t know that the policy exists. The average unclaimed benefit is $2,000 but some payouts reach the hundreds of thousands.
If your spouse has passed away, don’t expect the insurance company to come a knockin’ on your door. The California state controller found that, in some cases, when the premium payments stopped after policyholders died, insurers often used the policies’ cash value to continue payments until the cash was depleted.
“What? No! How could they?!”, you ask.
Yes, they do that kinda stuff.
So, if you suspect your spouse had a policy naming you as a beneficiary but you’re not sure how to go about finding it, read on for some tips and resources that can help you search.
1. Search personal records.
Lets’ start here because this is the easiest place to start.
If the person has died recently, start by checking the will and estate papers if you have access to it, of course. You can also check files for policy info, look for records of premium payments, or bills from insurance companies. Review recent income tax returns that show interest income for life insurance policies. Contact the deceased’s employer or labor union to check for policies you may not know about.
2. Search for Unclaimed Property
If your spouse died more than two years ago, benefits may have been turned over to the unclaimed property office of the state where the policy was purchased.
Go to www.missingmoney.com, a website of the National Association of Unclaimed Property Administrators to search records from 38 states.
Also go to www.Unclaimed.org to find links to all state programs that will allow you to do a free search online. If your name produces a hit, you will have to provide all necessary documentation, including a death certificate.
3. Policy-Locator Service
The National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC), an insurance regulatory support organization, recently created a national policy locator service.
This is great news because it takes the guesswork out of it and makes it easy for us!
And we like easy, right?!
So, here’s what you do.
Go to www.Content.NAIC.org and click on Life Insurance Policy Locator under Consumers at the bottom of the Home Page.
The NAIC will then ask its 463 member insurance companies to search records for any policies in the name of the deceased. If any are found, the insurer will contact you within 90 days.
4. Beware of scams!
Unfortunately, there are very bad people in this world who will try their darndest to take advantage of you.
Don’t let them.
Here’s what they do. They call or email you or contact you in some way, shape, or form and offer to reunite you with any unclaimed property. They charge you an up-front fee of, say, $500 or more. Don’t fall for this!
The real agency does not charge you anything, though some private agencies DO legally mine unclaimed assets and charge you a percentage, payable only if the property is found.
If you have successfully found any lost benefits, we want to know how you did it!
Email me at jen@widow180.com
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