Lost Policy Service Helps Recover Nearly $3M in Life Insurance Benefits
NASHVILLE – The Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance (TDCI) announces that almost $3 million in life insurance benefits have been returned to Tennesseans in the past year through the Life Insurance Policy Locator Service.
Available since November 2016, this consumer tool enables beneficiaries, executors, or legal representatives of a deceased person to track down the life insurance policies or annuity contracts of deceased family members or friends. It was developed in conjunction with the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC).
So far, the service has matched 8,210 beneficiaries with lost or misplaced life insurance policies or annuities – totaling $92.5 million returned to U.S. consumers. Tennessee had a total of 206 requests for lost policy searches and $2,868,762.94 in life insurance benefits was returned to consumers. Tennessee had the tenth largest amount returned to consumers.
“TDCI is proud to offer this free service to Tennesseans during one of their greatest times of need,” said TDCI Assistant Commissioner Michael Humphreys. “We are pleased that the policy search has connected Tennesseans with more than $2.8 million in policy benefits. These benefits belong with these designated beneficiaries. While the benefits can never replace a loved one, the resources help defray potentially overwhelming funeral and end-of-life costs, following the loss of a family member or friend.”
As a first step in locating a loved one’s lost policy, TDCI suggests looking through papers or financial records to see if you can find where payments were being made to an insurance company. If you find any documents with an insurance company name listed, you should contact the company directly to see if a life policy can be located.
If that search does not provide sufficient information, a request form to locate a lost policy may be submitted with the NAIC by an individual who believes they are a beneficiary of a policy issued in Tennessee, or from an executor or legally authorized representative of a deceased individual who may have lived in Tennessee when a policy was issued or an annuity was purchased.
The request form can be submitted to the NAIC through the website or email at help@naic.org.
The NAIC does not accept paper submissions. However, paper submission can be submitted to TDCI by printing the request form and sending it to TDCI by mail, email, or fax using the following contact information:
Lost Policy Service Request
Tennessee Department of Commerce & Insurance, Consumer Insurance Services Section
500 James Robertson Parkway, Davy Crockett Tower, 6th Floor
Nashville, Tennessee 37243
Fax: (615) 532-7389
Please note: A copy of a death certificate is required when filing a request.
The NAIC will forward the necessary information to all licensed life insurance companies and ask that they search their records to determine whether they have any in-force life insurance policies or annuity contracts in the name of the deceased. The company will respond directly to the requestor within 60 days of receiving the request only if they have in-force individual/group life insurance policies or annuity contracts naming the deceased, and if the requestor is legally authorized to receive this information. If no information is found, you will not receive any information back from the NAIC or the insurance companies.
For more information on the Lost Policy Service and other consumer insurance resources, visit the TDCI website or contact the TDCI Consumer Insurance Service Division at 1-800-342-4029 or (615) 741-2218.
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