How to find a lost life insurance policy or unclaimed money
Families can't claim a policy they don't know about. Maybe Dad mentioned "the policy from work" once. Maybe there's a ten-year-old letter from an insurance company in a drawer. Here's how to look, in the order that usually makes sense. None of it should cost you money.
Start at home
Most policies leave a paper trail. Before you go online, spend an hour looking for it.
- Bank and card statements. Look for regular payments to an insurance company, monthly or yearly. A premium payment is the best clue there is.
- Mail and email. Insurers send annual statements, premium notices and privacy notices. Keep watching the person's mail for the next few months, too.
- Files, desks and safe-deposit boxes. Look for policy documents and letters from insurance companies.
- Old tax records. Payments or interest from an annuity may show up on tax forms.
- Employers, past and present. Many employers offer group life insurance, and there's often no policy document in the house. Call HR at the current employer and, if you can, at past ones. Ask about life insurance, retirement plans and pensions.
- Unions, associations, credit unions and banks. Some offer life or accidental death coverage to members or customers.
- People who knew. The person's accountant or attorney, or anyone who helped with their finances, may know what exists.
Write down everything you find, even the dead ends. It keeps you from searching the same drawer twice.
Use the NAIC Life Insurance Policy Locator
The National Association of Insurance Commissioners, the organization of state insurance regulators, runs a free Life Insurance Policy Locator for life insurance policies and annuity contracts on people who have died. Here's how it works, from the NAIC's consumer FAQ:
- Who can use it: people who believe they're a beneficiary, or the executor or legal representative of the person who died. It doesn't search for policies on living people.
- What it costs: nothing. The NAIC also says insurance companies shouldn't charge you for searching their records.
- What you'll need: the person's Social Security number (or ITIN), legal first and last name, date of birth and date of death. The NAIC suggests taking these from the death certificate. It also asks for your own contact details and your relationship to the person.
- What happens next: participating companies search their records. If one finds a policy and you're the beneficiary (or legally authorized to receive the information), the company contacts you directly. If someone else is the beneficiary, the company contacts that person instead.
- How long it takes: the NAIC says it may take up to 90 business days to be contacted.
- If nothing turns up: you won't be contacted. The NAIC itself holds no policy or beneficiary information, so silence means no participating company found a policy that names you. Companies take part voluntarily, so keep looking at home and in the places below, too.
You can start a search on the NAIC's locator site.
Search state unclaimed property
When a company can't reach the owner of an account, a refund or an uncashed check, it usually turns the money over to the state. USA.gov notes that state governments hold most unclaimed money, and the national association of state administrators lists life insurance proceeds and annuities among the kinds of property states hold, along with bank accounts, uncashed checks and utility deposits.
- Search every state where the person lived or worked. Each state runs its own program. Unclaimed.org, the site of the National Association of Unclaimed Property Administrators, links to each state's official site.
- Search several states at once. MissingMoney.com is a free multi-state search sponsored by that association. Most states take part (unclaimed.org).
- Search your own name, too. It takes a couple of minutes.
The association says there's no fee to search for or claim property through an official state program. Private "finders" may offer to do it for a percentage of what they find. You don't need one.
Check federal sources
The federal government holds some kinds of money directly. USA.gov's unclaimed money page lists the official search tools. The ones families most often need:
- Savings bonds: Treasury Hunt, the Treasury Department's free search for matured savings bonds that were never cashed.
- Pensions from former employers: the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation's unclaimed retirement benefits search, for people whose private-sector pension plan ended and lost track of them.
- Older VA life insurance: the VA's unclaimed insurance funds search covers older programs such as National Service Life Insurance and Service-Disabled Life Insurance. It doesn't cover SGLI or VGLI.
- SGLI and VGLI: for servicemembers' and veterans' group life insurance, start at VA life insurance. The VA lists 800-419-1473 for VGLI and for SGLI claims.
- Federal employees and retirees (FEGLI): the Office of Personnel Management explains how to report a death and file a claim for Federal Employees' Group Life Insurance. For a current employee, start with the agency's HR office.
- FHA mortgage insurance refunds: HUD's refund search, for mortgages insured by the Federal Housing Administration.
- Failed banks and credit unions: the FDIC's unclaimed funds search and the NCUA's unclaimed deposits page.
- Unpaid wages: the Department of Labor's back wages search.
How to spot the scams
Searching for unclaimed money is free. Anyone who asks you to pay to search is a red flag.
That's the FTC's message in its March 2026 consumer alert on unclaimed funds: every state lets you search for free.
Red flags the FTC describes:
- A caller or text says time is running out.
- Someone asks for personal information, or an upfront "processing" fee, to release your money. The FTC says that's a scam.
- Someone claiming to be from the government asks you to pay. The government won't call or text you asking you to pay to search for unclaimed funds.
- A text with a link about unclaimed property. The FTC notes that state programs don't send text alerts about it.
Don't click links in unexpected messages. Type your state's official address yourself, or start from unclaimed.org. The same goes for letters or calls about a "lost policy": the NAIC locator is free, so you never need to pay anyone to search for a life insurance policy. Report suspected scams at ReportFraud.ftc.gov.
Keep a simple log
For each place you search, write down the date, what you searched for and what happened. If you file a claim, note the claim number and when you should hear back. When you're searching several states, a handful of employers and a stack of statements, a one-page log is the difference between done and "did I already check that?"
Save your own family the search
The easiest lost policy to find is the one that was never lost. File 04 in the Family File has a place for each policy: the company, the type, the last four digits of the policy number, whether beneficiaries are on file and where the policy is kept. No full numbers, ever. Fillable PDF for $29, or printed for $59.
Searching for someone who has died? The Next Steps File has a lost-asset search page and a claims tracker.
This guide is general information, not legal, tax, investment or insurance advice. Program rules change, so check the linked official sources for current details. Last reviewed October 2026.