How to find a lost life insurance policy

To find a lost life insurance policy, search the person's papers, mail and bank records for premium payments, ask their employer, agent, lawyer and accountant, submit a free request to the NAIC Life Insurance Policy Locator, and search state unclaimed property databases. No single search covers everything, so doing several in parallel gives the best chance.

If you are searching after a death, there is no need to hurry on day one, but do not stop at the first dead end. Policies are found years later, and a missing one is not necessarily lost money. Our lost life insurance policy finder turns the steps below into a checklist, and how to file a life insurance claim explains what to do once you find one.

Start with the paper and digital trail

1. Files and safe places. Check desk drawers, a home safe, a fireproof box, filing cabinets and old briefcases. Look for the policy itself, annual statements, premium notices, or a "Policy Information" page.
2. Bank and card statements. Look back several years for recurring payments to an insurer, a bank draft, or a payroll deduction. A monthly charge to an insurance name you do not recognize is a lead. Whole life and permanent policies may also show up as loans or dividend payments.
3. Mail. A forwarding order at the post office, or mail that keeps arriving, can reveal annual statements. Insurers generally send annual statements on permanent policies, so a letter that looks like junk may be one.
4. Email. Search the inbox for "policy," "premium," "beneficiary," "insured" and the names of well-known insurers. Check the spam folder.
5. Tax records. Prior returns can reveal interest or dividends from an insurer, a policy loan, or a premium deduction in a business.
6. Address book and phone. An agent's contact or a company's customer-service number is a clue.

Ask the people who may know

• Employer. Ask human resources about group life, supplemental life and accidental death coverage, including coverage on a spouse or child. Former employers can also hold retiree or conversion coverage.
• Union, professional association, alumni group or fraternal society. Many offer group life to members.
• Financial professionals. The agent, financial planner, accountant, estate lawyer or banker may have a copy or know of one.
• Lenders. Mortgage, auto and credit card lenders sometimes sold credit life or accidental death coverage. See credit life insurance: what it is and when it's worth it.
• Military and federal service. Veterans may have had SGLI or VGLI through VA, and federal employees FEGLI; see Servicemembers' Group Life Insurance, Veterans' Group Life Insurance (VGLI): eligibility, cost and conversion and Federal Employees' Group Life Insurance (FEGLI): Basic, A, B and C.
• Family and friends. Someone may remember a conversation about a policy or its insurer.

Search the national and state tools

The NAIC Life Insurance Policy Locator

The National Association of Insurance Commissioners runs a free, secure online service that sends your request to participating life insurers. If a company has a match and you are the beneficiary, it contacts you directly. It is the best single step when you have no idea which company to try. Details, limits and timing are in The NAIC Life Insurance Policy Locator: how to use it.

State unclaimed property

If an insurer could not find the beneficiary, it may have turned the money over to a state under unclaimed property law. Search each state where the person lived, at unclaimed.org (the site of the National Association of Unclaimed Property Administrators, which links to every state program) and at MissingMoney.com, a free multistate search. Searching is free; be skeptical of anyone who charges to do it. See unclaimed life insurance money and state unclaimed property.

Contact insurers directly

If you have a suspicion, write to the insurer's claims or policy service department with the insured's full name, date of birth, last four digits of the Social Security number, date of death and a copy of the death certificate. Insurers keep records of policies even after a lapse, and many will tell an authorized person whether a policy exists.

If the policy turns out to be old or lapsed

Finding a policy is not the same as being owed a benefit. A lapsed term policy may pay nothing, while a permanent policy may have a nonforfeiture benefit such as reduced paid-up insurance even after premiums stopped. A policy that was paid for through an employer may have ended when the job did, unless it was converted. Ask the insurer for the policy's status on the date of death, and if the answer is "lapsed," ask for the lapse notice history and payments received. If the denial looks wrong, see how to appeal a denied life insurance claim.

Documents to have ready for any search

Protect yourself while searching

Do not pay anyone who says they found a policy and will release it for a fee, and do not give your bank details to a caller or email. Real insurers and state programs do not charge to release a benefit. If someone contacts you out of the blue claiming to represent an insurer, find the company's number yourself and call it; see unclaimed money and heir-finder scams.

Prevent the problem for your own family

Keep a short list of policies with each insurer, policy number and where the document is kept, and tell your beneficiaries where it is. See where to keep your policy and who to tell about it.

Key takeaways

• Work several searches at once: papers and bank records, employers and advisers, the NAIC locator and state unclaimed property.
• The NAIC locator is free; so are state unclaimed property searches. Never pay a finder.
• A found policy may be lapsed, so ask for its status on the date of death.
• Keep the death certificate, proof of your authority and the insured's identifying details ready.
• Searches can take months, and a policy sometimes turns up years later.