How do you find out if someone had life insurance?
Posted on August 06th, 2008 in Life Insurance
Jack Hammer asked:
My Dad died last week unexpectatly, is there a way to find out if he had life insurance or do I just keep digging for policies. Is there some phone number to call and give his SS# and they can check all insurance companies? Any help would be greatly appreciated.
My Dad died last week unexpectatly, is there a way to find out if he had life insurance or do I just keep digging for policies. Is there some phone number to call and give his SS# and they can check all insurance companies? Any help would be greatly appreciated.
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Tags: Dad, Life Insurance
This post has 6 comments
August 7th, 2008
I am very sorry for your loss. As far as I know, there used to be a way to find out, but due to HIPPA (privacy) laws, it is no longer allowed. Keep searching, also contact all previous employers, his personal lines (home and auto, etc.) agent,
clubs or organizations he belonged to. They may know of a policy.
August 8th, 2008
Wow I dont know. Call the dept of insurance in your state. Thats the best I can tell you, they might know who to get you in contact with. Otherwise you might have to get a list of everybody licensed to do life insurance in your state, and call all of them.
Sorry about your loss, Good Luck
August 10th, 2008
I am so sorry for your loss. I don’t know of any ways. I wish there was though because it took us almost 2 years to find my grandmothers policy.
August 11th, 2008
You best bet is to dig through bank records to see if he was paying on any and ask all of his advisors (accountant, lawyer, banker, home and auto, etc.) There are a number of people who die every year without any life insurance besides what SSI gives ($250).
August 12th, 2008
There’s no central database, so you can’t call/write/email to have a “search” run.
Better than digging through files looking for a policy, though, is going through his banking statements. Most likely, he’s made a payment to a life insurance company within the past year or so, if he has an active policy.
You can ALSO ask his accountant, insurance agent, financial advisor, etc. if THEY know of any policies. Don’t forget his HR department if he was recently employed.
Most people do die without active life insurance in place in the US, though.
August 13th, 2008
Keep digging for policies. Watch the mail; if the policy is not “paid up” and the next payment is missed, you’ll see a past due notice (just like with a credit card). When that comes, you’ll know who to contact to let them know your dad is deceased.
Unfortunately, those are about the only two ways to find out if your dad didn’t tell you in advance where the policies were.
Each insurance company is a private corporation. There is no database where you can search by any kind of number.
You can also look through his checking account statements over the past couple of years if he kept those.
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