Washington, D.C. (November 29, 2016) – The American Council of Life Insurers (ACLI) strongly supports the National Association of Insurance Commissioners’ (NAIC) new Lost Policy Locator Service. The service can help consumers locate deceased family members’ life insurance policies or annuity contracts.
Through this service, consumers who suspect a loved one had a life insurance policy or annuity contract can submit a search request to the NAIC’s secure portal. The NAIC will pass the request to participating life insurance companies that will then search their records for the lost policy or contract. If one with a payable death benefit is found, the life insurance company will contact the beneficiary to begin the claims paying process.
The new service complements a national standard developed by the National Conference of Insurance Legislators (NCOIL) that requires all life insurers to identify life insurance policyholders who have died but whose beneficiaries have yet to make a claim.
The NCOIL standard requires companies to regularly compare their records against the Social Security Administration’s Death Master File to connect people to the benefits they are entitled to receive. Twenty-two states have adopted the standard. ACLI strongly supports it and is urging adoption in all states by the end of 2017.
“Life insurers are going above-and-beyond the requirements of many state laws to link people with their benefits,” said ACLI President and CEO Dirk Kempthorne. “In the past ten years alone, life insurers have paid more than $600 billion to beneficiaries of life insurance policies. Keeping promises to the families who rely on these benefits is the cornerstone of our business. That's our purpose.
“Our support for the NAIC Lost Policy Locator Service and the NCOIL standard is consistent with this purpose,” Governor Kempthorne said.
Additional resources to help consumers find a lost or missing life insurance policy are available on ACLI’s website. Among the many resources is My Insurance Log, a secure and convenient way to keep track of important information about your insurance policies and other relevant matters so that it will be readily available, now and in the future.
The American Council of Life Insurers (ACLI) is a Washington, D.C.-based trade association with approximately 280 member companies operating in the United States and abroad. ACLI advocates in state, federal, and international forums for public policy that supports the industry marketplace and the 75 million American families that rely on life insurers’ products for financial and retirement security. ACLI members offer life insurance, annuities, retirement plans, long-term care and disability income insurance, and reinsurance, representing 95 percent of industry assets. Learn more at www.acli.com.