How to Find Out if Someone Has Life Insurance

While at first, it may seem strange to ask how to search for a life insurance policy on someone else, there can be a number of valid reasons why you need to know. 

For instance, if a loved one passes on and you’re the beneficiary, you need this information in order to finalize certain end-of-life details. Often it is up to the beneficiary to notify the insurance company of the passing of the policyholder. You will also need this information to collect the death benefit from the life insurance policy.

No matter what the situation, it can be frustrating not to have the pertinent information necessary to finalize end-of-life procedures. Luckily, there are a few ways you can go about finding out if someone had life insurance.

How to Find a Life Insurance Policy

You can go about how to find out if someone has life insurance in many different ways, but some things are required if you’re in charge of handling the deceased’s accounts and other items. 

You will typically need the following in order to file a life insurance claim: 

• The policy number
• The names of the beneficiaries
• The total of the death benefit
• The personal information of the deceased who owned the policy

The good news is that there are many resources on how to find lost life insurance policies. Some of them are free, while others may end up costing money or time. 

Read more:

• How to File a Life Insurance Claim
• Are beneficiaries responsible for debts left by the deceased?

Contact the National Association of Insurance Commissioners

The NAIC offers a Life Policy Locator that can help you do just that — locate a life insurance policy for a deceased family member or loved one. 

According to the NAIC, once you submit a request, participating insurance companies will be asked to search for the policy using the provided information. You can also be contacted if the policy is located. 

Contact the Life Insurance Company

Knowing which life insurance company the deceased used will help you almost immediately find a life insurance policy that was otherwise unknown. 

Even though this is the best-case scenario, you will still need personal information when it comes time to acquire the death benefit. Many insurance companies will only provide details of the policy to the listed beneficiaries or someone with authorization.

Look for a Digital or Physical Copy

If you have access to the deceased’s information, you may be able to locate a physical copy of their life insurance policy that may have been stashed away. Common places that a person would keep such documents would be in a filing cabinet, a fire-proof home safe, or even a bank safety deposit box. 

Reviewing the mail is another way to find physical proof of a policy. Even though most companies have gone paperless, there’s still the chance that they mailed a monthly or annual statement to the deceased. 

You may also be able to find a digital copy if you have access to their email address, computer, or cloud storage. Following a digital trail could also lead you to tax documents, where you may discover payments made from an insurance company towards the life insurance policy. 

Check Tax Returns and Documents

If the deceased had a permanent life insurance policy and they’ve borrowed against it at any point, you will be able to see any expenses paid towards interest. 

Generally, a permanent life insurance policy is free from taxes unless the money that has accrued due to the accumulating cash value is withdrawn and used by the policyholder. Find out if life insurance is taxable.

Contact Other People Who Might Know 

This might include employers, financial advisors, or even other family members. An employer would know if life insurance was being issued through their place of employment and which insurance company was being used.

On the other hand, a financial advisor or accountant would know if the deceased was budgeting for a life insurance policy. Other family members can also point you in the direction of the right company as well.

Read more: How to Find a Life Insurance Advisor

As mentioned above, you can also contact their bank or credit union to investigate a safety deposit box. However, you can also discover whether or not life insurance is offered through their bank or credit union, as some lenders do provide this choice. 

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How else can you locate a life insurance policy? 

There are fee-based services if you’ve exhausted all of your other options:  

• MIB Solution’s Policy Locator Service. This is a database of application activity that can help you locate a missing policy. 
• Request assistance through a private company. Private companies will reach out to life insurance providers on your behalf to help find the missing policy for a fee.

Before using a fee-based service, don’t forget that the NAIC has a free Life Insurance Policy Locator. This tool is free and simple to use. The only stipulation is that you must be the beneficiary or at least authorized to access their insurance information. 

Why would you need to know if someone has life insurance? 

As you grieve, there are often still matters that need to be settled. A life insurance policy can help with the financial side of things. For example, with a death benefit, the family or beneficiary of the deceased can cover any outstanding debts, such as a mortgage, pay bills, or cover funeral costs. 

A death benefit doesn’t have to be used to pay off any debt, but some people might rely on that money for other reasons. Find out if beneficiaries are responsible for debts left by the deceased.

It’s also important to note that someone may not realize they have been named the beneficiary, and so the benefits of the life insurance policy might go unused if it’s never found.

What obstacles could prevent you from finding a life insurance policy? 

When looking into how to find out if a life insurance policy exists, there can be some obstacles you may have to face. Often, these complications will come from the company’s side of things. 

A life insurance company could go bankrupt, go through a name change, or sell the life insurance policy of the deceased to another company. In any of these cases, you would want to look into the NAIC’s search tool and its provided suggestions on how to proceed. (For more information, read our “What happens if my life insurance company goes bankrupt?“).

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What happens if you’re unable to find someone’s life insurance policy? 

After a period of time, lost life insurance policies will be labeled as unclaimed property. This could take years, which is why it’s vital to keep searching even after a few months. Even in the event that the life insurance policy becomes unclaimed property, you will still have the ability to search for it. (For more information, read our “How to Find an Unclaimed Life Insurance Policy“).

According to the National Association of Unclaimed Property Administrators (NAUPA), you can view all types of unclaimed property and use the Missing Money website to find investments, inheritances, and more. This website acts as a national database so that millions of records are available, increasing the chances of finding the lost policy.

Case Studies: Finding Lost Life Insurance Policies

Case Study 1: John’s Lost Life Insurance Policy

John recently lost his father, who had a life insurance policy. However, John was unaware of the insurance company his father used and didn’t have any physical copies of the policy. In his search for the policy, John decided to contact the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) and submitted a request through their Life Policy Locator.

The participating insurance companies were then asked to search for the policy using the provided information. John is now waiting for a response from the NAIC to see if the policy can be located.

Case Study 2: Sarah’s Discoveries

Sarah’s grandmother passed away, and she was responsible for handling her estate. While going through her grandmother’s belongings, Sarah discovered a filing cabinet where her grandmother had kept important documents, including a physical copy of her life insurance policy. Sarah was relieved to find the policy and now has the necessary information to proceed with filing a claim and collecting the death benefit.

Case Study 3: Michael’s Digital Trail

After his uncle’s passing, Michael wanted to find out if his uncle had a life insurance policy. With access to his uncle’s computer and email address, Michael decided to follow the digital trail.

He searched through his uncle’s emails and cloud storage, eventually stumbling upon tax documents that revealed payments made from an insurance company towards a life insurance policy. Armed with this information, Michael was able to identify the insurance company and proceed with the necessary steps to claim the policy.

Case Study 4: Emily’s Bank Inquiry

Emily’s aunt had recently passed away, and she was unsure if her aunt had a life insurance policy. She decided to contact her aunt’s bank and inquire about a safety deposit box.

To her surprise, the bank not only confirmed the existence of a safety deposit box but also informed her that they offered life insurance options. With this information, Emily was able to gather more details about her aunt’s policy and begin the process of filing a claim.

How to Find Out If Someone Has Life Insurance: The Bottom Line

There are plenty of ways to find out if someone had life insurance, with the options also available even after the policy becomes unclaimed property. It should be relatively easy if you know the insurance company used and are listed as the beneficiary.

However, even if you don’t know which life insurance company was being used, you can use any number of tools at your disposal to locate it. Ask as many questions as you can, and try to search for both a physical and a digital copy.

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