How to Find Lost Life Insurance
If someone close to you has passed away, finding the life insurance policy of the deceased is understandably not going to be the first thing on your mind. But with up to £2 billion in unclaimed life insurance policies lying dormant, it’s crucial that you know where to locate a life insurance policy. And as we’ll explain, finding lost life insurance policies may require a little detective work.
How do you find out if a deceased person had life insurance?
Sorting through paperwork is always an unenviable task, but it may not be as hard as you think to find the life insurance policy of a deceased person. But how else can you find lost insurance policies for free? The good news is that there’s more than one way.
You should start by looking at the deceased person’s bank statements to find out whether they were paying a regular life insurance premium. If they were, the statement should also reveal the name of the insurance company receiving the payments.
If the deceased had an accountant or a legal adviser, it would also be a good idea to contact them, as they may be able to point you in the right direction and provide some further details.
How to find the deceased's life insurance provider
If you’ve been able to confirm from the bank statements that the deceased had a life insurance policy, and you know which company provided it, you should try contacting the provider directly to make sure it’s still valid. Even if you’re missing the specific details of the policy itself, they should be able to track down the policy if you provide key information about the account holder.
But sometimes it’s not so easy. Life insurance is, by its nature, a long-term arrangement, so it’s not surprising that people can sometimes lose track of the paperwork or even forget that they have a policy. This may explain why so many life insurance policies go unclaimed. The Association of British Insurers (ABI) can help you find the contact information of many UK insurance companies on its searchable member database. This database will also help you to find insurance companies that have merged, changed their name, or been taken over by other companies.
We’ve covered how to find lost life insurance policies for free, but it’s worth knowing that some firms offer a paid service to try and help you locate unclaimed policies. This might be worth considering if you do not have details of the policy or know the name of the insurance provider. Bear in mind that fees may vary, and results are not guaranteed.
Other ways to find lost life insurance for free
Unless you can be sure that the deceased had life insurance in place, the cost of a funeral and other final expenses are understandably a cause for concern. But friendly and mutual societies could help ease any worries and offer another potential avenue in terms of finding lost life insurance policies for free.
While many of these organisations have undergone mergers and demutualisation since their 19th and 20th century heyday, it’s not as difficult as you might expect to track down defunct societies. For example:
- The Association of Financial Mutuals (AFM) looks after the interests of remaining mutuals and their members, and they offer help in tracking down lost insurance policies on their Tracing a Society page.
- You can search AFM’s list of members and their register of closed societies to find details of societies past and present, and who now owns their assets.
- If you’re still drawing a blank, the Financial Conduct Authority should be your next stop, where you’ll find the searchable Mutuals Public Register, a public record of mutual societies both currently and no longer registered.
Have you considered your own life insurance?
Finding lost life insurance is no easy feat, but that doesn’t mean your own cover arrangements have to be quite so stressful. Everyone has different individual circumstances, but our comprehensive life insurance could help provide you with some peace of mind.
Why not discover what our life insurance could offer you?
