All Life Insurance Tips

How can I find out which Life Insurance Company my father was paying?

Before my father died a few months ago,he told us that if he died,the life insurance he was paying would give us $100,000,but he never mentioned which company we're supposed to claim the money from.How can we find out,or are there any records that shows this information?

Public Comments

1. You will need to go through his documents and find the policy number or at least what company he was insured with. You should be able to get the policy number and file the claim if you have a death certificate against his social security number, and you know what company its for. Unfortunately, there isn't any kind of central database where you can look it up. You need to see if he had the policy or look at his bank statements to see what company the payments went to.
2. Look through his check book register, cancelled checks, credit card statements etc. Perhaps he has some files with the statements they send. At last resort, if he was still paying, the company will likely send a statement in the mail when the next payment is due. It's always good for people to make a list of where their assets are located, including account numbers, and keep it on file with their Will or with a trusted relative.
3. You go through his checking account statements. It will record the name of the payee, and maybe you'll even find cancelled checks. If you're asking, is there some database where you can plug his name in and find out, the answer is no.
4. There is some good advice above. Checking bank statements, watching the mail, looking through documents are all good ideas Other ideas are to check with his home and auto insurance carrier to see if they might have sold him a policy or recorded it somewhere. You can also check with his banker and or investment representative. If he was working, the policy might have been through a group insurance plan. So check with his employer as well. Another option is the MIB: http://www.mibsolutions.com/lost-life-insurance/ I hope that helps
5. If the only reason that you have to believe this is that he hold you, then it may not be true. If, hypothetically speaking, it is true, then you can (in increasing order of difficulty): a. (Easiest option) Look through his stuff to find a canceled check, a payment receipt, the actual policy, a bank statement that lists an automatic debit for the insurance payment, etc. b. (Intermediate difficulty) Obtain from the Medical Information Bureau (MIB) a list of the companies to which he applied for insurance since the late 1990's. Contact those companies one at a time to see which one actually issued a policy. Note: If it was over 10-14 years ago, the MIB will no longer have a record and this option will not work. c. (Most difficult) Contact every life insurance company in the country, one at a time, until you find the right one.
6. First thing I would do would be to check with your father's employer (if he worked) as many employers provide life insurance as an employee benefit. I would also review the checkbook carefully there might be a premium payment to an insurance company. I say carefully because there might be only one payment per year. Go through your father's files you may find an actual policy but understand that finding the policy is no guarantee that it is still in force. Did the he have a safety deposit box? Often life insurance policies are kept there for safekeeping. If you do find any policies, look for applications attached to them. The application will have a list of all other life insurance policies owned at the time the policy was applied for. Call the insurance agent that wrote his home and auto insurance. That agent might have written a life policy or perhaps referred them to another agent. If you think that the insurance was applied for in the last 13 years you can try this link http://www.mibsolutions.com/lost-life-insurance/ it is the Medical Information Bureau's policy locator service. Cost is $75 per search. To be eligible to submit a request you will have to be the executor of the estate, a surviving spouse or a child of the decedent. Good luck.