Every year, millions of dollars in life insurance policy payouts are not claimed by the named beneficiaries. If someone names you as his beneficiary, then he is under no obligation to tell you as well. When the policyholder eventually dies, you would not be notified by the insurance company unless they are aware that the policyholder has passed on.
If you want to prevent being in this situation, then find out while the person is still alive and trust this guide to show you how to find out if I am a beneficiary of a life insurance policy. The important step to take if you want to find out if a policyholder has named you as their beneficiary is finding out from the person directly.
This can be very uncomfortable to bring up with someone who is still alive because it can be confused for you to be greedy, but it is one step that you need to take. Even if the person doesn’t feel like talking about it, talk to the person to make every necessary document available and accessible. The documents can be kept at the lawyer’s office, safety deposit box, or maybe on the desk at the office.
How To Find Out If I Am A Beneficiary Of A Life Insurance Policy
Furthermore, if you are very sure and aware that they have a life insurance policy, but you have no idea regarding the insurance company, you can actually go through the papers of the deceased person. In some cases, such important documents might be packed together with bills that are not related or maybe filed somewhere else.
If you find it hard to find out the policy, you are likely to stumble across letters from the insurance company or payment records, and this leaves you with a clue regarding who to call. If your search of paperwork doesn’t yield any fruit, then a qualified search service like the MIB group can also help you search through millions of paperwork to determine if the deceased person actually has a life insurance policy.
Contacting the insurer is the next step for you to take if, eventually, you have found out that a policy truly exists. After contacting the insurer, ask if you are the named beneficiary of the life insurance policy. The insurance company might tell you or ask you to present a certificate of death.
There is also a possibility that finding the beneficiaries of some life insurance policies might not be successful for some insurance companies. This is because the company is tasked with sending out emails to you and any other named beneficiary so you can submit your claim form along with the death certificate of the deceased person. If you are not provided with a claim form, then inquire if yours has gone missing or if you are not a named beneficiary.
If a policyholder dies and the insurance company cannot locate the named beneficiary or beneficiaries in the life insurance policy, then what the insurance company would do is transfer all of the money to an unclaimed state fund account. However, if the policy you have been searching for is over a few years old, then going through the unclaimed funds websites to see if you can find the deceased’s policy or going through several home states might actually provide you with a result.
Once you can find it, you can put a call through to the administrator of the state’s unclaimed property along with a copy of the death certificate of the deceased policyholder. You should provide your proof of identity. Since you are the named beneficiary in the account, then the administrator would tell you the necessary steps and procedures that you need to take to claim the money left in your name. A life insurance policy is an important aspect of anyone’s life.
Sometimes, you might be required to make some changes to your life insurance policy, and it is not out of place to forget your policy or misplace your policy. Unpaid term in life insurance policies might cause a lapse in the policy over time. Still, universal life policies or permanent whole life policies would remain to make use of the cash values that have been accumulated either to purchase a small amount of insurance or pay up your premiums.
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