Life Insurance Policy Locator

September is Life Insurance Awareness Month. The Colorado Department of Regulatory Agencies (DORA)’s Division of Insurance provides helpful tools on its website to assist Colorado consumers with the life insurance process. One of these, the Life Insurance Policy Locator, helps consumers locate policies belonging to deceased loved ones. “Each year, millions of dollars in life insurance benefits go unclaimed by beneficiaries who can’t find their deceased loved ones’ policies, or in some cases may not even know the policies exist,” says DORA. “The locator connects consumers with those lost policies.”

The Policy Locator is a free service, but some requests will require documentation such as official death certificates. DORA reports that since debuting in 2016, the Locator has helped Coloradans find 796 lost policies, amounting to nearly $12 million. When matches are found, they are reported to the Division of Insurance, which requires the insurer to contact the beneficiaries. To learn more about lost life insurance policies, see this page from National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC), which administers the Locator.

DORA has many additional resources to help consumers understand the complexities of life insurance. Considerations for Insurance is a helpful publication that describes the different types of life insurance, and factors that affect premiums. Also see their general Life Insurance brochure. More information can be found on DORA’s Life Insurance webpage.