How Do I Locate a Missing Insurance Policy of a Deceased?
Full Question:
Answer:
A policy which is lost or misplaced poses many difficulties for those expected to inherit from it. Suggested places to look include a safe deposit box, under the mattress, between pages of books, in glove boxes or trunks of vehicles, or wall or floor safes. A court order may be required to look in a safe deposit box if you're not on the signature card.
If you're unable to identify the agent who sold the policy, you may look through checkbooks to find checks written to insurance companies or agents. As a last resort, one might try cold calling insurance in the area yellow pages. Be thorough, although an agent may not remember the client, he or she may have referred them to someone else in the department.
Friends of the deceased may be consulted to see if the deceased ever mentioned where the policy was kept or who drew it up. The deceased's address book will be a source of names to call.
Contact your relative's past employers. They might know of possible group life insurance. The insured might have also purchased supplemental life insurance through work.
Check the mail for a year. Premium bills and policy-status notices are usually sent annually.
Look at income tax returns for the past two years. Check for interest income from policies or expenses paid to life insurance companies.
Contact the Medical Information Bureau. If your relative bought life insurance fairly recently, there might be a trail of the companies to which he applied. The Medical Information Bureau maintains a database dating to 1996 that might show if insurers have requested your relative's medical information. Record searches can be requested through the MIB's Policy Locator Service at http://www.mibsolutions.com/lost-life-insurance/ for a fee. The MIB says nearly 30% of searches turn up leads.
Unclaimed insurance proceeds are required to be reported to the state. Please see the unclaimed property search at the following link:
http://www.fltreasurehunt.org/index.jsp
