How to find a lost life insurance policy in Texas

Start with the paperwork

TDI suggests a few places to look before using any online tool:

• Bank statements and check registers for payments to insurance companies.
• Address books or phone contacts for the name of an insurance agent.
• Employee benefits offices at current and former employers, since many people have group life insurance through work.
• Mail, email and tax records for premium notices, annual statements or Form 1099s from an insurer.
• Safe deposit boxes, files with the will, and loan documents that may mention credit life coverage.

Use the NAIC Life Insurance Policy Locator

The National Association of Insurance Commissioners runs a free Life Insurance Policy Locator, and TDI points Texans to it. You submit the deceased person's legal name, date of birth, date of death and Social Security number (or ITIN), plus your own contact information and your relationship to them. You'll want the death certificate handy.

Participating life insurers and annuity companies search their records against requests stored in a secure database. If a company finds a policy and you are the beneficiary, the company contacts you directly. You won't hear back if there's no match or you aren't the beneficiary, and the NAIC itself holds no policy or beneficiary information. The locator only works for people who have died.

Search Texas unclaimed property

If no one claims life insurance proceeds, insurers eventually turn the money over to the Texas Comptroller. TDI notes that unclaimed benefits are turned over to the state after three years. Under Insurance Code Chapter 1109, that clock generally runs from when the proceeds became due, or, after an insurer confirms a death through a Death Master File match, from when its good-faith effort to find a beneficiary failed.

You can search the Comptroller's unclaimed property database at ClaimItTexas.gov. The Comptroller says there is generally no time limit for owners to file a claim. Have a copy of the death certificate and proof of your right to the money ready, and search every name the person used, and every Texas city they lived in.

Texas makes insurers check for deaths

Since 2017, Insurance Code Chapter 1109 has required insurers to compare their in-force life policies, annuity contracts and retained asset accounts against the Social Security Death Master File (or an equally complete database) at least twice a year. The comparison has to account for nicknames, maiden and married names, swapped birth dates and partial Social Security numbers.

When there's a match, the insurer has 90 days to confirm the death, check whether the person had other products with the company, and decide whether benefits are due. If benefits may be due and no beneficiary has come forward, the insurer must make a documented effort to find and contact the beneficiaries and send claim forms and instructions. The law bars insurers from charging you for the search.

The rule has limits. It doesn't cover employer group policies the insurer doesn't keep individual records for, ERISA plans, federal employee programs, pre-need funeral policies, or credit life and accidental death policies, so you still need to search for those yourself.

If you find a policy

Contact the insurer's claims department and ask for a claim packet. You'll typically need a certified death certificate, the policy number if you have it, and proof of your identity. Under Texas Insurance Code Sec. 1101.011, a life insurance policy must provide for settlement within two months after the insurer receives proof of death and proof of the claimant's right to the money. TDI's life insurance guide adds that for an individual policy, the company must pay interest from the time it got proof of death until it agreed to pay.

If the policy lapsed, ask whether it had any remaining value, such as extended term or reduced paid-up insurance, before assuming nothing is owed.

When to ask for help

If an insurer won't respond, denies a claim you think is valid, or you suspect a policy was lost through an error, you can call TDI's consumer help line at 800-252-3439 or file a complaint online. For estates, the executor or administrator may need to make the claim, so loop in whoever is handling probate.