Tennessee consumers have been matched with policies totaling $11,148,069 in the past 12 months through the Life Insurance Policy Locator, a free service provided through the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) via the Tennessee Department of Commerce & Insurance (TDCI).
The NAIC launched the free national locator service in November 2016 to make it easier to connect consumers with lost life insurance policies or annuities. In Tennessee, 866 beneficiaries have been matched with a total of $15,791,028 so far.
“The response we’ve received nationally and in Tennessee to the policy locator has been greater than anyone could have anticipated,” said TDCI Commissioner and NAIC President Julie Mix McPeak. “State insurance regulators saw there was a need for a national service that efficiently connected consumers with lost policies and monies they were owed. This valuable service helps ease a burden for family members who might be grieving after the loss of a loved one.”
In its initial two years, the locator has matched 24,934 consumers with policies, totaling $368 million nationally. More than 48,000 consumers have conducted searches nationwide in that time. During its first year, the policy locator initially found $92.5 million in lost benefits for consumers. As more matches were made to requests from that year, the first-year total has increased to $166.7 million. In Tennessee, consumers have made 3,306 requests for matches.
Consumers looking for a loved one’s lost policy should start by looking through papers or financial records to see where payments have been made to an insurance company. If any of the documents reference payments made to an insurance company, consumers can call the companies directly to see if a policy can be located. Additionally, consumers can also complete the NAIC’s online Life Insurance Policy Locator Service request form.
Once the request is complete, NAIC will send the policyholder’s information to all licensed life insurance companies in Tennessee. Then, companies will check their records to determine if they have a policy matching the beneficiary’s information. The company will respond within 60 days if a match is found.
Note: The Policy Locator Service does not track beneficiary information or claim payment after matches are reported so there is no way to determine the amount actually returned to consumers. The claim amount only includes the amount reported by companies tied to a match.
For more information on the Lost Policy Service and other consumer insurance resources, visit tn.gov/insurance or contact the TDCI Consumer Insurance Service Division at 1-800-342-4029 or (615) 741-2218.
