How to Find Unclaimed Life Insurance Money

iQuanti: There may be a chance that you're sitting on unclaimed money or property from a departed family member, and you may not even know it. Read on to learn how you can track down an unclaimed life insurance policy and how you can prevent your loved ones from missing out on unclaimed benefits.

What is unclaimed life insurance?

Every year, there are cases where life insurance benefits are left behind by beneficiaries that have no idea they even exist. So, there's a possibility that one of your deceased relatives listed you as their beneficiary and may have forgotten to tell you about it.

Fortunately, there is no actual time limit for how long a beneficiary has to file a life insurance claim. Once you file a claim, the insurance provider will pay out benefits within 30 days after approval.

In some states, life insurance companies regularly check Social Security data to determine if their policyholders are still living. If the policyholder is no longer living, they make an effort to reach out to the beneficiaries listed on the policy so they can file a claim and receive benefits including property. However, this is not universal, and sometimes life insurance policies may not even be aware that a beneficiary has passed.

Where do you begin searching for an unclaimed life insurance policy?

Uncovering a life insurance policy from a deceased loved one will take a bit of elbow grease. If you are the executor of the estate or if you have power of attorney, there are a few ways you can get the ball rolling to get closer to what you're looking for.

Look for life insurance paperwork

If you have legal access to the deceased's affairs, you can browse through their documents and hopefully stumble on their life insurance policy. If it's not this simple, you may have to take a few extra steps.

Check the mailbox

If the person passed away recently, there might be documents concerning their policy in a physical safe or file storage.

Check with their banking institution

If you don't have access to their online banking services, you can take a trip to the deceased's bank or credit union to request paper statements and find the transactions that resemble insurance premiums. This way, you can find out what life insurance company they were making payments to in order to reach out to them. You can also check their safe deposit box for any insurance-related papers.

Contact previous employers

If you know where your loved one once worked, you can contact the company to find out any information they may have about a possible insurance policy.

What do you do if you can't find the insurance company?

If you know that the deceased had life insurance coverage, but you're having some trouble finding out what company it was with, there are other ways to get more information.

• You can get in touch with the deceased person's accountant, insurance agent or financial advisor to find out who they were insured with.
• Contact the National Association of Insurance Commissioner's Life Insurance Policy Locator Service for a more in-depth search.
• For a fee, you can search the Medical Information Bureau's database.
• If you would like to find out if you're owed unclaimed property, you can search MissingMoney.com.

How can you prevent an unclaimed insurance policy in the future?

You can take some precautions to make sure that your spouse, children, and any other beneficiaries don't have to go through the trouble of missing out on benefits owed to them. Otherwise, they'll have to become a somewhat private eye to search for their unclaimed benefits.

As the years go by, your family's contact information may change due to marriage, divorce, relocation or a number change. Make sure your beneficiaries' contact information is always up to date on your policy, including their name, phone number, address, and social security numbers, so that there are no discrepancies in the future.

When you initially file for a life insurance policy or decide to add or change a beneficiary, it's a good idea to inform them that you've listed them so they're aware. It's also ideal to let them know where all your important documents are stored, so they're easily accessible when needed.