TDCI Announces New Lost Life Insurance Policy Service

NASHVILLE – The Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance (TDCI) announces a new service enabling Tennesseans to more easily locate lost life insurance and annuity policies. 

TDCI’s Lost Policy Service, which recently became available, enables beneficiaries to track down the life insurance policies or annuity contracts of deceased family members or friends. To use the service, Tennesseans submit a simple request form either electronically or by mail to the Department. The Department then sends the request to all licensed Tennessee life insurance carriers. 

“Locating the correct insurance records following the death of a loved one can sometimes prove to be a challenge,” TDCI Commissioner Julie Mix McPeak said.  “This service provides useful assistance in situations where a Tennessean thinks he or she may be the beneficiary of a policy, but cannot provide sufficient information to identify an insurance carrier.”

Each month, TDCI representatives will collect all request forms received from consumers and then contact Tennessee-licensed insurance carriers. The carriers will then search their records to determine whether they have any Tennessee in-force policies or annuity contracts in the name of the deceased.

Insurance carriers will be expected to respond directly to the consumer within 30 days of receiving notification from TDCI, if the consumer is legally authorized to receive the information.

“Tennesseans’ interest in lost policies seems to have spiked in recent weeks,” said TDCI Assistant Commissioner Michael Humphreys. “This new service allows the Department to serve as a platform that connects Tennesseans to the life insurance and annuity benefits that they may have otherwise had a hard time identifying.”

TDCI will send its first notification to carriers at the end of April 2016. 

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