Lost old life insurance

Jennyjue

My mam has recently passed away I know she has life insurance but there's only one life insurance to find no other policy's I knew she had one with sun life which I can sort out I've found a letter that I thought was just an advert to find she had one with another company   now I'm left wondering if she had any more because I think she might if had one with the co-op does anyone know if there's a system in place to find out if there's an policy's or is it a case of just ringing around thanks in advance for any help x

Old_Lifer

There is no central record of life policies.

Take a look at the bank statements.  If she was currently paying premiums under a life policy,    you should find alongside the amount,  the name of the provider  and alongside it a reference number,  which is usually the policy number.

If she had a policy  where she ceased to contribute but which is still in force , you will have to rely on finding any documentation.

Where there is nothing on a bank statement and no documentation can be found , there is really nothing  to indicate to relatives that a policy exists.

tacpot12

The firms you call might raise data protection concerns, be ready to ask them what they need to see to share information with you.

coachman12

If you ignore the company's own adverts, the following link is actually quite helpful, Jenny
https://www.unitelife.org/resources/how-to-find-out-if-someone-had-life-insurance-in-the-uk
The Unclaimed Assets Register sounds good and can be phoned on 0333 000 0182.
My sympathy for the loss of your Mum.

Old_Lifer

The link supplied appears to be one Life Office's approach to the problem. My understanding is that the Life Office has first to sign-up to the Register and may then supply only limited   information on only a small number of policies.

A Life Office often has a problem where a policy has reached the end of its term and becomes payable (eg an endowment) but where they have lost contact with the policyholder.  Life Officies will often have a special team of people whose job it is to  try to re-unite lost policyholders with the policy proceeds due to them.  In the limited circumstance where they have been unable to trace the policyholder thus far,  putting it on the Register  may be a further attempt to trace the policyholder.

I would agree  with tacpot12's  comment about data protection. Nowadays in many areas of life there is a reluctance to provide any information which might be seen as breaching data protection rules.    Having said that,   even in my day we would not have provided policyholder information in response to a phone call.. It could have been anyone making the call.

Back on topic,  a policy may have been taken-out early in life but may have  matured, expired or  been  surrendered long ago and the policyholder may then have destroyed the documentation.

glennevis

If your mum had a bank account with the coop when she passed away she might have a life insurance policy. I opened a current account with them 20 years ago and I have the paperwork for a life insurance policy worth £1000. This was free, so no ongoing premiums, and appears to be valid as long as I still bank with them.

Old_Lifer

Yes indeed,   a number of organisations especially buillding societies did offer small free policies about 20 or more years ago.  Usually however , they were policies which only covered accidental death  and were not normal life policies.

SonOf

I remember the old accidental death policies being thrown around all over the place as freebies.   However, many of them did have expiry dates/ages and of course, death had to be a result of an accident.    Statically, very few deaths are.  Hence why these were given away free.

As Old Lifer says early on, the bank statement is a good place to look as most life assurance would have monthly premiums.