The case: A woman recently called us, trying to track down a life insurance policy that her grandmother had bought in 1971. The policy had been sold by one company to another.
"Makes me wonder how many policies go unclaimed," she said.
A lot. According to the New York Times, hundreds of millions of dollars each year.
So how do you track down a relative's old policy?
- Gather as much information as possible: name, insurer and any relevant documents. Try to find the policy itself, which will have a number on it. Make sure you have a copy of the death certificate.
- Tip: If you can't find the company, try going through the person's financial records, looking for payments made to an insurer. Also, look through old mail -- the company may have sent periodic statements or billing reminders. If you know which company they had their auto= or homeowners coverage with, consider contacting that company. People often use the same insurer for life insurance.
- Then, make sure the company still exists, or if it merged with another company. If you live in Washington state, we can help with this, for free. Call us at 1-800-562-6900 . If you live in another state, call your state's insurance regulator for help.
- If you can't find any information, even the name of the company, you may want to pay a search company to run your relative's name against insurance industry databases or to contact a large number of insurers directly. Examples include companies like MIB Solutions or The Lost Life Insurance Finder Expert. (Note: mentioning a company or product on this blog ≠ endorsement.)
- Tip: Online companies can also search for unclaimed property for you, but with a little time at your computer and the sites listed above, you can do the same thing, for free, yourself.
As for that life insurance case, we helped the woman figure out the current company holding the policy and file a claim.
"This is incredible," she wrote. "We can't thank you enough."
Posted by Rich R. at OIC
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A smart place to register your life insurance policy for free. In many on-line forums you can see a question:" I new he/she had a life insurance policy, but can't find anything about it. Can someone help me?" Big money are sleeping in insurance companies without finding their owners. ( If you are from the potential beneficiaries, also presume that the name of the insured could be written in a way before he/she for some reason changed it. ) |
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A client calls me to say that she has a problem with her house outdoor pipes. She also has a home day care business there. Because no damage was in the house, insurance couldn't pay but I advised her to request from the repairman a certificate of insurance where she is a certificate holder and better, if she is an additional insured as well. In case something goes wrong after the repair, she'll be able to make a claim on repairman policy and be compensated for all losses.
Related to this, I remember a college professor who was jumping in front of his class, almost pooling his hair down, because the addition a company built to his house showed problems and his bathrooms didn't work during Thanksgiving time. Instead of enjoying the nice holiday with his three kids and beautiful wife, he was very frustrated and didn't know from where to start. A reminder that this contractor who built the addition had to have Liability insurance and he could claim it, did the job.
Resume:
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