What you’ll need
- The insured person's name
- The policy itself, if you can find it, which will have the insured person's name and policy number
- A certified copy of the death certificate
Where to look for a copy of the policy
- Search through the person’s financial records to find payments to the insurer.
- Look through old mail for statements or billing reminders from the insurer.
- Ask their auto or home insurer if they bought life insurance from them.
- Ask their last employer if they had a policy through their job.
- Find their income tax statements and see if they earned interest from and paid an insurer.
- Ask their bank if they had a safe deposit box or bought a policy from them.
If you find the policy
Contact the insurer to file a claim. If you need help contacting them or have problems with a claim, call us at 800-562-6900 or file a complaint.
What to do if you can’t find the policy
- Gather as much information as possible. This includes the person's name, date of birth, Social Security number, insurer and other relevant documents.
- Use the free online tool for looking up life insurance policies.
- Contact the Washington State Dept. of Revenue. Someone may have sent the benefits to their unclaimed property section. Also check for unclaimed property in other states where the person lived.
- You can pay a company to search for the person’s name in insurance databases.