With all the mergers and changes in the life insurance industry, it can be a challenge to locate a lost policy. The following are a couple of ways to look for a policy:

1) The National Association of Insurance Commissioners offers a free resource on their site (www.naic.org)
which recommends the following steps:

• If you have the life insurance policy, find the full legal name of the insurance company that issued the policy, along with the company's mailing address and phone number. If the phone number is no longer active, you should contact the insurance department in the insurance company's home state. That insurance department will have records of the company's current name, mergers, and other changes, so that you will know which company to contact. NAIC provides a map with links to state insurance departments, at • http://www.naic.org/state_web_map.htm
• If you do not have the insurance policy, perhaps you know the company's name, and the state where the policy was purchased. If so, then use the same map linked above to locate that state's insurance department, which will have records of the company's current name, mergers, and other changes, so that you will know which company to contact.
• NAIC also provides a short questionnaire (https://eapps.naic.org/orphanedpolicy/) that can help you determine which state insurance department to contact for assistance.

PLEASE NOTE THAT STATE INSURANCE DEPARTMENTS DO NOT HAVE RECORDS OF SPECIFIC INSURANCE POLICIES. HOWEVER, THEN CAN ASSIST YOU IN LOCATING THE APPROPRIATE INSURANCE COMPANY, AND/OR BY REFERRING YOU TO A LIFE INSURANCE POLICY LOCATOR.

2) The Medical Information Bureau (MIB) also has a policy locator service (which they charge a fee for) on their web site at http://www.mibsolutions.com/lost-life-insurance/ - their web site states that that this is effective about 30% of the time.

Of course, there’s always Google. Do your own research before you pay. And good hunting.

Tony Steuer, CLU - Life Insurance Consultant

Author: Questions & Answers on Life Insurance