How to Find an Old Life Insurance Policy

If your loved one didn’t leave a clear record of a life insurance policy, it can be difficult to know how to find an old life insurance policy. We break down the main steps on how to find out if someone has life insurance, so you can easily find out whether the deceased had an active life insurance policy.

Once you find the life insurance policy, it is then a matter of dealing with any life insurance death benefits, which may come in the form of a lump sum or multiple payments.

In order to find a life insurance policy and potential death benefit payouts, read our guide below.

How to Search for Old Life Insurance Policies

There are a few ways to find an old life insurance policy, but one of the best ways is to contact your State Insurance Department and use its life insurance policy locator.

You will need the deceased’s death certificate and social security number. Below, we have listed the contact information for each State Insurance Department.

Insurance Department Contact Information by State

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You can call your state’s department directly, or you can visit the website for help locating a life insurance policy. Once you find the life insurance policy, you will also be able to discover if you were listed as a life insurance beneficiary on the policy.

Using a Life Insurance Policy Locator

When you contact your State Insurance Department, it is helpful to have gathered information on the policy if possible. This will help the State Insurance Department locate the deceased’s life insurance policy if one is to be found.

The policy information you should look for is as follows:

Steps to Search for Old Life Insurance Policies

While it may take a while to dig through paperwork to find the necessary documents, bear in mind that it is much easier and faster for your State Insurance Department to find an insurance policy if you have at least some of the documentation listed above proving that there is an insurance policy in existence.

If you have any confusion about how life insurance policies and payouts work when looking for a policy, read our guide on how does life insurance work for more information.

Contacting the State Insurance Department

You can also contact the State Insurance Department if you need help locating a life insurance policy because some information is missing. While you don’t need to know all the policy information, like if the deceased had a term life or permanent life insurance policy, you should know basic information about the deceased and the insurance company.

Below, we’ve listed some instances where you might have trouble finding lost life insurance because of a lack of basic information, as well as what you should do in each case.

Methods of Locating an Existing Life Insurance Policy

Troubleshooting by following the steps above will help you with your old insurance policy search.

Tips for Finding an Old Life Insurance Policy

If you aren’t sure where to start with your search, take a look at our tips below on how to find out if someone has life insurance.

Steps to Find a Lost Life Insurance Policy

As you can see, there are plenty of ways to collect the information needed. Although some methods may be more time-consuming, the information gathered will help you determine whether there was an active life insurance policy.

Unique Challenges to Finding Old Life Insurance

Often, the challenges that arise when looking for an old life insurance policy have to do with changed information or a significant lapse of time between the deceased’s death and the search for a life insurance policy.

For example, the company that held the deceased’s life insurance policy may have gone under or changed its name. This can make it harder to track down the company that held the life insurance policy.

If a significant amount of time has passed since the deceased’s death and when you started investigating for a life insurance policy, this can also make it trickier to find the policy.

At this point, it will be considered unclaimed property, so you may have to search through multiple databases to find the life insurance policy.

When Happens When You Can’t Find an Old Life Insurance Policy

If you can’t find an old life insurance plan, ensure it’s not listed as unclaimed property somewhere. Double-check that you have the information correct, as well. (For more information, read our “How to Find an Unclaimed Life Insurance Policy“).

If you still can’t find an old life insurance policy, it is possible that there may not be one available. Perhaps the deceased had a life insurance policy, but they let it lapse before their death, making the life insurance policy invalid.

Bottom Line: Finding Old Life Insurance Policies

When it comes to steps in how to find life insurance policies, don’t be discouraged if you can’t find a life insurance policy right away. It can take a bit of work and research to find an older life insurance policy, especially if it has been labeled as unclaimed property.

However, by collecting information and using government insurance sites and resources, you should be able to discover a policy.We hope that our guide on how to find an old life insurance policy has been helpful.

If you are looking to purchase a life insurance policy yourself, make sure to keep a detailed record of the policy for your beneficiaries and read our guide on types of life insurance to find the best policy for your needs.

We also offer helpful information that answers questions like “do you need a Social Security Number to get life insurance” to help guide you through the application process.