Life insurance in Mississippi

How your policy is protected if an insurer fails

If a life or health insurer licensed in Mississippi is found insolvent and ordered liquidated, the Mississippi Life & Health Insurance Guaranty Association protects Mississippi residents who own its policies and annuities. It may transfer the policies to a financially sound insurer, continue them itself, or join a multistate plan with other associations. Keep paying premiums, because coverage continues only while a policy stays in force.

Limits are as of October 4, 2026, from the association's FAQ and Miss. Code §83-23-205. Payees of structured settlement annuities and owners of allocated group annuities are protected up to $250,000 in present value, and unallocated group annuities up to $5,000,000 per contract owner. A single owner of several non-group life policies, such as a company that insures its officers, is capped at $5,000,000. The annuity limit is per owner per failed company: three $100,000 annuities with the same insurer are protected for $250,000 in total, and the rest becomes a claim in the receivership.

The association is a private entity created by the legislature, not a state agency, and its members are the life and health insurers licensed in Mississippi. Mississippi law prohibits agents and companies from using the association in advertising or as an inducement to buy, because it is not a substitute for choosing a well-managed, financially stable insurer. See state life and health guaranty associations and what happens if your life insurance company fails.

Who regulates life insurance in Mississippi

The Mississippi Insurance Department licenses insurers and agents, reviews policy forms, examines companies, fights insurance fraud and helps consumers with problems. The most common way to ask for help is the toll-free Consumer Help Line, 800-562-2957 (601-359-2453 in the Jackson area). The department's offices are in the Woolfolk State Office Building, 501 North West Street, Jackson; mail goes to P.O. Box 79, Jackson, MS 39205-0079.

Free look, grace periods and policy rules

Mississippi gives you at least 10 days after delivery to return an individual life policy (Miss. Code §83-7-51) and 30 days for a policy or annuity that replaces existing coverage (Miss. Admin. Code 19-2:14.05), according to the NAIC's state chart of life insurance disclosure rules. We could not confirm the statutory minimum grace period, so check the premium provisions of your policy. The Insurance Department's life insurance guide notes that when you replace a policy you get a minimum period to review the new one, and it advises not to cancel your old coverage until the new policy is in hand. See the free-look period: returning a policy for a refund for how free-look periods generally work and replacing a life insurance policy: when it makes sense before you switch.

Taxes, estates and community property

Mississippi has no state estate tax and no inheritance tax, so the only death tax that can apply is the federal estate tax, which has a $15,000,000 exclusion per person in 2026 under Public Law 119-21, the 2025 tax law known as the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. See state estate and inheritance taxes and life insurance.

Mississippi is not a community property state.

Finding a lost policy or unclaimed benefits

The Mississippi Insurance Department points families to the free NAIC Life Insurance Policy Locator, which asks participating insurers to search their records for a deceased person's policies and annuities and to contact the beneficiary if they find one. Also check bank statements, mail and tax returns for premium payments or policy statements. Money that insurers can't deliver is eventually turned over to the Office of the Mississippi State Treasurer, which runs a free unclaimed money search. If the insured lived or worked in Louisiana, Alabama or Tennessee, search there as well. See how to find a lost life insurance policy and unclaimed life insurance money and state unclaimed property.

Life insurers based in Mississippi

Southern Farm Bureau Life is headquartered in Jackson. Founded in 1946, it sells whole life, term life and annuities in 11 states.

Where to get help

• Mississippi Insurance Department: 800-562-2957, mid.ms.gov, P.O. Box 79, Jackson, MS 39205-0079. File through the department's complaint page and keep copies of your policy and letters. Our guide to how to file a complaint against a life insurer covers what to include.
• Mississippi Life & Health Insurance Guaranty Association: 601-981-0755, mslifega.org, P.O. Box 4562, Jackson, MS 39296.
• Unclaimed money: the State Treasury's unclaimed property page, which links to the official search.