Life insurance in Indiana

How your policy is protected if an insurer fails

The Indiana Life and Health Insurance Guaranty Association is made up of most of the insurers authorized to sell life insurance, health insurance and annuities in Indiana. State law created it to protect Indiana residents, within limits, when a member insurer is liquidated. It may take over the failed company's policies directly. More often, it works with the receiver and other states' associations to have a solvent insurer assume them. Keep paying premiums so coverage continues.

Limits for insolvencies and rehabilitations after January 1, 2013, from the association's FAQ, as of October 4, 2026, consistent with NOLHGA's chart (as of June 1, 2025):

The association's FAQ walks through several examples that show how the caps work:

• Two policies with a combined $500,000 death benefit from the same failed company are covered for $300,000, split between the two.
• If a policyholder collects $200,000 in long-term care benefits and then dies with a $400,000 life policy at the same failed insurer, the association pays $300,000 in total: the $200,000 of care benefits plus $100,000 of the death benefit.
• Annuity limits follow the annuitant, so spouses who are annuitants on separate contracts are not lumped together.

Certain unallocated group annuities are covered up to $5 million per contract owner. A separate $5 million cap applies to one owner of multiple individual life policies.

Guaranty associations are not government agencies, and their coverage is a backstop with limits and delays. It is not a reason to choose a weaker insurer, and most states prohibit agents from using it as a sales pitch. See state life and health guaranty associations and what happens if your life insurance company fails.

Who regulates life insurance in Indiana

The Indiana Department of Insurance (IDOI) licenses insurers and producers, reviews policies and monitors solvency. Its Consumer Services Division handles questions and complaints about life, health, auto and property insurance, and it checks that companies and agents doing business in Indiana follow state insurance law.

Free look, grace periods and policy rules

• Free look: IC 27-1-12-43 requires every individual life policy, including variable life, sold after June 30, 1994, to let you return it within 10 days after you receive it for a full refund of all money paid. You can return it to the insurer, the producer who sold it or any of the insurer's agents. The notice must be printed prominently on the first page. A replacement policy gets 20 days under Indiana's replacement rule, according to the NAIC's state chart. See the free-look period: returning a policy for a refund.
• Grace period: read your policy's grace period clause for the time allowed to pay a late premium, and contact the insurer before it ends.

Taxes, estates and community property

Indiana has no estate tax and no longer has an inheritance tax. Under IC 6-4.1-1-0.5, the old inheritance tax does not apply to anyone who died after December 31, 2012. Only the federal estate tax can apply, with a $15,000,000 per-person exclusion in 2026, according to the IRS. Indiana is not a community property state.

Finding a lost policy or unclaimed benefits

Use the free NAIC Life Insurance Policy Locator. Participating insurers search their records and contact the beneficiary if they find a policy. Then search the Indiana unclaimed property site for life insurance proceeds that insurers turned over to the state. See how to find a lost life insurance policy and unclaimed life insurance money and state unclaimed property.

Life insurers based in Indiana

• OneAmerica Financial, an Indianapolis-based group known for individual life insurance and combination life and long-term care policies.
• Indiana Farm Bureau Insurance, the Indianapolis-based insurer affiliated with the Indiana Farm Bureau.
• CNO Financial, based in Carmel, the parent of Bankers Life and Colonial Penn, which focus on middle-income older Americans.

Where to get help

• IDOI Consumer Services: 800-622-4461 or 317-232-2395; [email protected]; in.gov/idoi.
• File a complaint: the online consumer complaint portal is IDOI's preferred method. You can also mail or fax (317-234-2103) the complaint form to IDOI, Attn: Consumer Services Division, 311 West Washington Street, Suite 300, Indianapolis, IN 46204-2787. See how to file a complaint against a life insurer.
• Guaranty association: Indiana Life and Health Insurance Guaranty Association, 3502 Woodview Trace, Suite 100, Indianapolis, IN 46268; 317-636-8204.

Neighboring states: Illinois, Michigan, Ohio and Kentucky.