urses care for patients. Patients, until they became sick, were me and you. Just ordinary people who work, pee and poop, pal around with friends, and if we’re lucky, love.
Illness, especially serious illness, has a way of turning lives upside down.
As a former hospice nurse, I’ve seen this time and time again.
Our subconscious minds take over when a loved one is dying and crisis mode kicks in. Long term plans give way to ‘let’s get through today.’
The person dying may have been a careful planner, but is no longer in control. The family is mourning the loss of their loved one, and in so doing, ignore completely the efforts and plans made “in the event of my death….”
All those safe deposit documents or personal papers tucked away for safe keeping, may now be lost forever even from our loved ones.
Those families who have organized these episodes with bullet point and bullet proof plans are rare:
- Burial plan is here
- Life insurance info is here
- I want Uncle Bill to get my stamp collection
- Don’t give Junior any cash, that drug addiction thing….
Many people, planners or not, through the long course of their life, have purchased a life insurance policy from a friend or family member. Large policy or small, the paperwork is…well, someplace.
A Billion in unpaid claims
Lost Insurance Policy?
What triggered my thoughts about end of life care and insurance policies, was an article about an estimated BILLION DOLLARS in unclaimed life insurance benefits in the USA alone. Money waiting to be claimed by the deserving family or survivors.
A billion dollars of life insurance payouts waiting to go…someplace….. brings to mind a dear little Hospice patient many years dead..
I will call him Mr. T (for teeth-his dentures flipped and flopped in ways that only losing 50 lbs can cause…)
He was kind and soft spoken. Family? He was estranged from his only child-who lived a thousand miles away. What Mr T needed from me was a listening ear and non-judgmental understanding.
You nurses out there know what I mean. Medical care at the end of life many times is all about everything but medicine or science….
After Mr T’s death, I received a call from a grandchild who had driven down-too late it turns out- with his fiance, to see Mr T.
It makes me sad to this day to think about our conversation. When I met with the grandson, he bore a striking resemblance to the older man (except for the teeth), and had similar mannerisms. He hadn’t seen Mr T in over a decade and shared some of the stories of happy times. He had wanted to take his grandfather fishing.
My Mr. T had been a hard working business man who had fallen on hard times after the death of his wife. Alcohol and loneliness ate at him ’till he had run off his family and friends.
His family would be exactly the type that might have unknown life insurance proceeds, just waiting on a claim.
A billion dollars owed. In our early years, we may take out policies, then life changes, divorce, spousal death, we move, documents and papers are lost.
Is it possible you or your family could be owed a life insurance pay out?
How to find lost insurance money:
It is customary for insurance payouts to be triggered only by a claim from a beneficiary or their representative. That can be a problem if you don’t know about outstanding life policies. If you think there might be outstanding claims, there are ways to find these ‘lost’ policies.
First, the more information you have, the better:
- Full name of the possible insured
- Maiden name if applicable
- Social Security Number
- Address
- Date of birth and death
When you have as much information as possible, here are some steps to get you started:
Start looking close to home. Put on your detective cap, you know you’ve always wanted to. Check last known employer’s benefits office or the past year’s canceled checks and incoming mail. The American Council of Life Insurers suggests reviewing old income tax returns for interest income from and interest expense paid to, life-insurance companies.
Search industry databases.
- www.policylocator.com. For a fee per person searched, this source can identify where applications for policies have been made.
Connect with insurers directly.
- MetLife Inc., the nation’s largest life insurer by assets, has a policy finder web site.
- Prudential Financial can be reached at 800-778-2255.
- Check with local insurance brokers, they may be able to help.
Check with your state’s insurance regulators. Louisiana, Missouri, and Ohio operate search services. Insurers are heavily regulated and are quick to avoid a suspicion of wrong doing. Requests made through state regulators will be spread out to state licensed insurers.
As noted in the article which prompted my reverie and this post, there have been many beneficiaries of a little ‘lost policy’ sleuthing.
Have you found any lost policies? Are you caring for loved ones who cared for you in their early years? Do you know where all their insurance documentation is?
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