There’s a new tool helping Idaho residents find old money. An online search can now reveal whether a long-forgotten life insurance policy is waiting to be claimed.
The Consumer Services Bureau Chief at the state’s Department of Insurance, Elaine Mellon, says it used to be hard for a family with incomplete records to know if a loved one had life insurance.
“People had to contact each individual life insurance company to see if there was anything, but this makes it so much easier,” says Mellon.
“This” is the Life Insurance Policy Locator. Launched by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, the free service searches many of the major companies for lost policies.
“People may have purchased a policy 40 years ago and not even remember they have it and not remember who the beneficiary is and so this allows their family or loved ones to see if there was anything out there,” says Mellon.
In the past two years, Idaho residents have used the service to find 109 policies that paid out almost $1.3 million in death benefits.
Nationally the service has found $368 million for consumers. That’s important because if the money isn’t claimed, Mellon says it eventually goes into the Unclaimed Property account and is lost.
Idaho’s Department of Insurance has a link to the Policy Locator on their website.
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Copyright 2019 Boise State Public Radio
