How To Check For Life Insurance Policies in New Jersey?
Overview
How to find out if someone had life insurance can be answered by following the steps listed below:
- Search the deceased personal documents like paper and digital files, bank safe deposit boxes, and bank statements for checks or automatic drafts to a life insurance company.
- Check the deceased’s email and mail for confirmation of premium or dividend payments. The company will not send a notice of due dates if the premium payments are still up-to-date. However, it can still send a notice to inform the deceased about the status of their policy.
- Review the deceased’s tax returns to know how much interest income and expenses they paid to life insurance companies. These expenses are usually recorded as interest income.
- When you locate the life insurance policy, ensure you check for an attached document that lists the other policies the applicant may own at the time of completing their application.
- Speak to the deceased’s banker, lawyer, tax and financial advisor
Irrespective of your relation to a deceased owner of a life insurance policy, data protection regulations still require that you provide necessary information before you can have access to policy details. This includes people who typically know about the deceased’s financial situation, like:
- The executor of the estate, if applicable
- The deceased’s next of kin- like a parent, spouse or child
- Named beneficiaries to any other life insurance policies
If you are unsure of whether you are a beneficiary to a life insurance policy, your access to the insurance policy will be restricted. You can approach the individuals listed above to ask further questions and explain any concerns you may have. You can also share information if you believe you are a potential beneficiary
If you do not know how to find out if a deceased person had life insurance, you should consult with a New Jersey licensed life insurance agent to help you carry out an intense search for the life insurance policy.
How To Find Out If Someone Has Life Insurance in NJ?
When a loved one passes away, there are many things that you need to do. One of these is figuring out how to find a life insurance policy after the death of your loved one. Having the proper documents, like a life insurance policy, can help you manage the expenses associated with the funeral. The list below contains options on how to find out if someone has life insurance in New Jersey:
One of the first things you need to do is talk to the deceased friends and family members. If you are unsure, you can try talking to other people unrelated to the family, like the deceased's acquaintances. Since life insurance is a type of financial product, your loved one may have discussed its benefits with their friends and other people they were associated with.
If the deceased had a life insurance policy, there is likely a record of it in their personal belongings. You may check the documents in their home and business.
Check the messages sent by the life insurance company to your loved one. You can also check their financial statements and credit card statements. They will continue to send updates and premium notices via email and mail.
Contact the companies and organizations your loved one was a part of. These organizations can help you find a free or low-cost life insurance policy. Even if your loved one stopped working or retired, their policy could still be in place.
If you have the key to the safe deposit box of your loved one, you should ask the bank how you can access it. You will need to provide proof of your kinship to do so. If you are unsure if the box was in the bank's vault, you can try looking through the bank's records where the account was previously held. You can also watch the mail for notices asking for payment.
One of the essential ways on how to locate a life insurance policy is by typing in the name of your loved one into the search box to find their assets through the New Jersey Department of Banking and Insurance Life Policy Locator Service.
You should contact the New Jersey insurance commissioner at:
New Jersey Department of Banking and Insurance
Phone: (609) 292-7272
Hotline: 1-800-446-7467
FAX: (609) 633-0527
The agency will typically perform a search, and if a contract is found, they will contact the named beneficiary. If the request is made by someone who is not an authorized party, they will not contact them.
If you are stuck trying to figure out how to find life insurance policies for a deceased person, you should speak to a New Jersey licensed life insurance agent for help.
How To Find Out If Life Insurance Policy Is Still Valid?
Follow this guide to know how to find out if your life insurance policy is still valid, based on your specific situation:
I stopped my premium payment. Is my policy still valid?
Your financial situation may change throughout your life. For instance, if you have experienced a serious medical challenge or job loss, you may no longer be able to afford your life insurance policy. With term life insurance, the premiums will stop automatically. Each policy has its procedures and grace periods. In most cases, your insurance company will give you an extra month to catch up on payments, though this set period will eventually end. You will then have to purchase a new policy once the grace period has ended. You may be able to cash out your life insurance policy before it expires, giving you access to the cash value that it has accumulated. However, this method requires you to speak with your insurance company immediately after failing to make a payment. Permanent life insurance policies have more extended grace periods, which allows you to reinstate it if it has been in effect for a certain amount of time. You must contact your insurance company to find out what options you have.
I know my deceased loved one maintained a life insurance policy at some point, but I do not know if it is still active. How to find old life insurance policies?
After you have found out that your loved one has a life insurance policy, contact the insurance company directly to find out whether the policy is still valid. They will be able to provide you with more details about how to proceed, as each company has its procedures. To prove your relationship, you will need a photo ID and a certified document, such as an executor's testament. You will need the deceased's full name and maiden name to make a claim. You will also need their death certificate (from the funeral home) and social security number. You can also request a copy from the county or New Jersey Records Management Services, as this can help file a claim.
You can also consult a New Jersey licensed life insurance agent to help you carry out a proper investigation to determine whether your policy is still active.
How To Find Life Insurance Policies of Deceased Parent?
Here are steps on how to find life insurance policies of deceased in New Jersey:
- Contact your parent's life insurance company: If you are your parent's beneficiary, contact the company that issued their policy. You should be able to provide proof of your identity with your driver's license or Social Security Number and a death certificate to prove that your parents are deceased.
- Life Insurance Policy Locator Service: A life insurance policy locator tool will help you find the policy's details, such as your name, address, and the deceased's Social Security number. The tool looks through an insurance company’s records to find matching policies.
- Contact your deceased parent's financial advisors: If there is an attorney, financial planner, or business partner who helped your deceased parent manage their estate, they might be able to find their insurance policy or tell you the company where it was purchased.
- Look for a physical copy: If you are authorized to access your deceased parent's personal effects, you should check their safes and storage areas for a copy of their insurance policy or correspondence with their company. If the life insurance policy's documents were stored in a safe deposit box, you need to get a court order to confirm that the person who held it has died.
- Search digital storage: If you share a digital device with your parents, you may find the policy there.
- Contact your parent’s insurance agent: If you know the agent that secured your parent’s life insurance policy, you may contact them for help with locating their policy.
How To Find Unclaimed Life Insurance Money in New Jersey?
Life insurance policies are considered "unclaimed property" if the insured client passes away, and the company can not find the surviving spouse or children. Unclaimed life insurance benefits are often due to outdated or incomplete information about the insured's beneficiary. This can make it hard for the insurance company to track the surviving family members. If you unsure on how to find life insurance policies for a deceased person, you can do the following:
- You can check the unclaimed property database of the New Jersey Treasury's Unclaimed Property Administration.
- You can contact a private company to help you find the lost life insurance policy by calling the deceased's company. Keep in mind that this service may require payment.
You may face some challenges when looking for unclaimed life insurance for a deceased loved one, especially if the insurance company has changed its name or sold the policy to another company. The National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) has tips on identifying insurance firms that have changed their names or merged with other companies. It also sells policies to other companies.
If the company goes bankrupt, you should contact the New Jersey Life & Health Insurance Guaranty Association at (732) 345-5200 or via email. A guarantee association is a type of insurance that provides a safety net for the policyholders of its state. It ensures that the continued coverage meets the legal limits.
How To Find Out If You Have Life Insurance?
There are a variety of ways that you can do this, and it will take some simple steps to find out:
- Contact your financial adviser to inquire if you have any valid life insurance policy.
- Check your mail and email for billing statements and account summaries. If your policy is a term insurance, you can look for records of payment. Likewise, if it is a permanent insurance policy, then you can look for annual summary statements.
- Conduct an online search via the New Jersey Department policy locator services to search. You may be required to provide information like your Social Security Number (SSN), legal first and last name and date of birth.
- Search through your personal belongings and documents that may be in your security deposit.
The best way to find out if you have life insurance is through a New Jersey licensed life insurance agent. To this end, you should consult with an agent who is generally conversant with how to find out if you have life insurance policies.
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