Lost Policies
What to do if Your Life Insurance Policy is Lost or Missing?
In the past, life insurance companies have required beneficiaries to file claims to receive benefits. Often times claims are never filed, perhaps because the policy documents have been lost, or because they beneficiaries did not know a policy existed. More recently, state insurance regulators have been looking into how large insurance companies handle their claims and have urged them to proactively identify policies that maybe due for a payout.
The Social Security Administration has a list of recently deceased individuals. The state regulators have charged insurers to use this list to proactively determine if a life insurance policy should be paid out. Unfortunately, not all insurance companies are diligent in checking this list.
Don’t wait on your insurance company to notify you that a policy exists. You might never find out there was a policy in place. Be proactive in searching for your lost policies or missing life insurance policies on your loved ones. Some helpful ideas for searching for lost or missing life insurance policies include:
First, you should submit a Life Insurance Policy Locator Request Form with the Missouri Department of Insurance. In addition to submitting this form, you can do the following for your lost policies:
- Check papers and address books for the names of any insurance agents. Contact every life insurance company with which they may might have held a policy.
- Check with the employee benefits at their last places of employment.
- Review bank records and canceled checks to see if any checks were written to life insurance companies for premium payments.
- Check the mail for one year after death for premium notices, which usually are sent annually.
- Review income tax returns for the past two years. Look for interest income from and interest expenses paid to life insurance companies.
- Check with Missouri’s unclaimed property office to see if there is any life insurance proceeds that were turned over to the state.
If you have a life insurance policy and are still unable to locate it after following the above steps contact the experienced attorneys at Joseph & Eugene, LLC to assist in your search.
Hire an Experienced Insurance Claim Denial Attorney
Our results speak for themselves. Our experienced insurance claim denial attorneys have never lost a case. At Joseph & Eugene, LLC our lawyers handle cases throughout Missouri and Illinois. Don’t delay if you have been denied your insurance claim. Contact our knowledgeable lawyers today at (314) 881-8338 or send us an Insurance Denial question. We look forward to hearing from you. All communications are returned promptly.
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