There have been cases where life insurance policies remain unclaimed after the death of the policyholder. You know what’s interesting? Sometimes, the insurer may not even know when the insured died. So, if the insurer has no idea about the death of the insured, there will be zero efforts to locate the beneficiary.

For a fact, there are billions of dollars under unclaimed life insurance money in the United States of America. So many people whose loved ones have passed on don’t know their loved ones held a life insurance policy.

You do not want to blame the insurer because, let’s face it, it is not their fault that they don’t know when the insured died. For some insurers, they may know but would not make any attempt to get to know who the beneficiaries are. It is a win for them. They get to keep the money. This is why regardless of the current situation, policyholders should inform their beneficiaries, maybe not directly, but somehow, they should.

In this article, we will highlight ways to know if you are a beneficiary of a life insurance policy.

Legislation Can Help Find Beneficiaries

It is very likely that policyholders do not like to disclose who the beneficiaries of their insurance policy are. Perhaps, they believe the beneficiaries should find out after their death as they will not be around to be called sentimental. You can not accuse the dead. However, policyholders must share information about their policies before they pass on. Death is inevitable anyways.

Why is there so much Unclaimed Life Insurance Money?

There is little or no documentation of life insurance when people pass away. Ideally, life insurance is often used to leave an inheritance for loved ones left behind after the insured’s death. However, it is commonplace that so many people forget about acquired life insurance in their early, lively days.

Some insurance companies, too, won’t dispense death benefits unless the beneficiary stakes a claim.

Also, the policyholders may sometimes not communicate steps to take to claim life insurance benefits in clear terms.

 

Let’s look at ways to know if you are a beneficiary of a life insurance policy

● If you lose an older loved one, and want to find out if you are a beneficiary of a life insurance benefit, you can check through their old documents, correspondence, and notices from their life insurance company. If you find it, call the insurance company straight away. You would only need to verify your identity and get the policyholder’s social security number.

 

● Contact former unions or employers of the deceased: It is not difficult for people to get life insurance through their workplaces. Also, the unions they belonged to in their lifetime may have purchased a life insurance policy. Check, comb through these outlets and see if they offer life insurance to their members. If they do, follow through with your identity, and you just might be a beneficiary.

 

● Check Bank Statements: If you have information about the bank that the deceased did business with, this is another outlet. Check for information on whether the deceased bought a life insurance policy. Another premium tip you can use is, find out if there were canceled checks which you can use to locate premium payments made in the past. This part is very key; find out what insurance company they were sent to. Now that’s gotten out of the way; then you can proceed to stake your claim.

 

● State insurance Department: If you have tried those mentioned above and still have no headway, you can contact your state insurance department. Now, this is not a guaranteed solution but, they may just have the information you need. However, you must know before proceeding that state insurance departments don’t have a special inclination to help you with unclaimed money. Just get the information you need and move on.

 

● Online Services: There are online services with database resources for unclaimed money. For instance, missingmoney.com is the National Association of Unclaimed Property Administrators (NAUPA) endorsed. You should check it out.

 

● Auto Insurance Agents: The deceased may have purchased a life insurance policy. If you found out that the deceased has an auto insurance scheme, then that’s your cue.

● Medical Insurance: It is very likely that the deceased got life insurance from a medical institution. If you have access to the insured medical history, then you can contact the medical institution to find out if the deceased got a life insurance policy from them.

 

● Ask Them: This is also very important. You want to know if you are a beneficiary of a life insurance policy, ask them while they are still alive. No, it is not corny. You also wouldn’t ask as your life depended on it. But, if they love you, they should tell you. So, go on, ask them if there is any life insurance policy that you should know about.

Conclusion

You have seen how to know if you are a beneficiary of a life insurance policy. There is so much unclaimed money out there, billions of dollars actually, and you just may be a beneficiary. It is left to you to find out and stake a claim. Somebody may just have left a fortune for you, and you don’t know about it.