According to statistics, there are millions of dollars in life insurance proceeds that go unclaimed. It’s not uncommon for a policy to get misplaced when the policyholder dies. The reason being the policyholder never gave any information about their policy. Again, it’s not a surprise that the life insurance policy and the policyholder can lose track of one another. The main question here is, “how can one track back unclaimed life insurance benefits?” Below there are the reasons why life insurance benefits might go unclaimed and what to do.
Top Reasons Why Life Insurance Benefits May Go Unclaimed
If you are taking a life insurance policy, it pays to understand how that policy works. For instance, you may want to know whether the insurance will pay for benefits if you or your loved one was involved in a car accident. In such a case, you may consult car accident attorney near me to know how to go about your insurance case and whether you may receive death benefits in case your loved died during the accident. Unfortunately, a good number of beneficiaries fail to get the benefits they are entitled. The main reasons why this can happen could be:
- The life insurance company has no information about the insured death.
- There are no beneficiaries to claim for the benefits.
- Beneficiaries are not aware of the existence of life policy.
- The life insurance policy cannot be located.
The life insurance policy pays for death benefits in case the insured dies. The cause of death doesn’t need to be specific. Meaning if a loved one dies in a car accident, the policy should pay a claim. But it’s always advisable for one to consult car accident attorney near me to learn whether one may still file a personal injury claim.
How To Track Unclaimed Life Insurance Benefits
There is no time limit where one is supposed to claim life insurance benefits. This is not the same case with the life insurance, and if there is a claim, it must be paid within a stipulated time, typically, thirty days upon approval. If the claim is denied, one can consider looking for life insurance lawyers for help. Usually, the law requires that life insurance companies pay out unclaimed benefits by finding the beneficiaries. Where this seems impossible, the amount is recouped back by the state. Nevertheless, there are many ways to find unclaimed life insurance policies. The common ones include:
- Ask the employer: It’s easy to ask the employer of the deceased whether there was any policy in effect for the deceased.
- Scrutinize the deceased documents: In most cases, one gets evidence either from payments made or any other document that may reflect some insurance information.
- Check bank statements: It’s possible to find evidence of payments that were being made to the life insurance company.
- Check mail: The life insurance company could be sending statements either demanding for payments of premiums or showing the value of the policy.
- Speak to the life insurance company: As a beneficiary, you may be aware that the deceased had a policy, you can call the company and request for relevant information. Further, you may also contact state insurance department and check whether you can locate the deceased policy information.
It’s crucial for the policyholder to inform the family about the policy, especially to the beneficiaries.
If you’re unable to locate a life insurance policy, you may consider looking for life insurance lawyers for legal assistance. With legal help, you can easily find about the life insurance benefits and keep yourselves and your family from missing these benefits.
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