Wolf Administration Lauds Added Consumer Protections in New Law Requiring Insurer Participation in Life Policy Finder Program

HARRISBURG, Pennsylvania, July 5 -- The Pennsylvania Insurance Department issued the following news release:

Insurance Commissioner Jessica Altman today applauded Gov. Wolf's signing of House Bill 152, now Act 48, sponsored by Rep. Marguerite Quinn, (R) Bucks County, that requires life insurers to participate in the Life Policy Finder Program. This program helps beneficiaries receive benefits from life insurance policies that may have been lost over time.

"This program, currently run by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, is proving valuable for Pennsylvanians. Since the program's inception in November of 2016, it has recovered $9,611,164 in life insurance benefits for 1,092 Pennsylvanian beneficiaries," Altman said.

While Pennsylvania is already participating in the program, Altman said Rep. Quinn's legislation is important because it puts in statute that all insurers with life policies or annuities in Pennsylvania must be part of this program, which is currently voluntary for insurers.

"Too often, people find out about life insurance proceeds owed to them years after a loved one has passed, when the money has lapsed into the Treasury Department's Unclaimed Property Bureau," said Quinn, vice chairman of the House Insurance Committee. "When family members are not aware of the existence of a policy, the money often comes too late to help them cover expensive burial costs. My goal is to bypass those years, and to get the money into the hands of the beneficiaries as soon as possible."

The Insurance Department receives numerous requests every year from individuals who believe a deceased family member or other loved one had a life insurance policy, but that policy cannot be located. A common scenario is that a parent purchased and fully paid for a policy years or even decades ago, meaning there has been no correspondence with the insurer for a long period of time, and the policy itself has been lost.

Under this law, any insurer selling life insurance policies or annuities in Pennsylvania must provide the Insurance Department with an email address to which the department can send requests to search for a policy. These requests can be made by a member of the decedent's family who has requested and received a copy of the decedent's death certificate, or a personal representative of the decedent's estate.

"This law cements in statute this important consumer protection for Pennsylvanians. I thank Representative Quinn for her determination over several years to get this law passed," Altman said.

Information on filing a request for a life policy search is available here, and on the Insurance Department website at www.insurance.pa.gov, by clicking on the Life link under Insurance Coverage Resources on the homepage. Consumers needing more assistance can also contact the Consumer Services Bureau on the website, or by calling 1-877-881-6388.