How to Locate a Lost Insurance Policy

There is a lot of frustration involved in an unforeseen death. Often the policy has been misplaced and no one knows who to contact in order to make a claim on the life insurance policy. The following instructions will help you to locate the standard or joint life insurance policy information if it has been lost.

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

Instructions

1. The first thing to do to locate your standard or joint life insurance policy information is to check with a previous employer for records. Even if the employer was not involved in the issuance of the life insurance policy, they may have required this information for emergency purposes depending on the job responsibilities and the employer.

2. Check through old records. Often even an old or outdated policy may lead to the information you need. Standard and joint life insurance policies are often sold through brokerages to larger insurance companies. Often you are able to find out who is the current policy provider through a previous agreement because of this.

3. It is unlikely that you would know who the insurance broker is, but if you do, they would be able to pull the records and find the insurance company. This is often the case if the broker is a family member or a friend.

4. If all else fails, you can mail off to American Counsel of Life Insurance and they may be able to produce the information. Here is the address:
   
   American Council of Life Insurance
   1001 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
   Washington, DC 20004-2599
   
   Be sure to include a self-addressed and stamped business size envelope. The way this process works is they will forward your request to over one hundred of the biggest life insurance companies to see if they own the policy. If they are able to locate the policy, then they will forward you a copy of it by mail. A nominal fee is charged for this service.