I’m sorting through the very poorly organized papers of an estate, and thinking of the various free life insurance offers I’ve received from my bank over the years and how I have very poorly organized my own estate.
Now I’m wondering about the push/pull with life insurance. Do they make any attempt at all to find out if their policies come up, or do they rely on the beneficiaries contacting them?
Obviously this isn’t an issue for a well organized person, or for someone who is still paying the policy when they die. But what about for those whose policy is paid off or part of some other thing like a bank promotion?
My father had a small policy from when he worked at the UN, and we had to contact them.
Even after policies are paid off, the company sends you statements. I’ve never heard of full life from a promotion - maybe term (though I haven’t heard that also.)
It pays to either be organized or to not throw things out.
BTW, whoever cashes in needs a certified death certificate. It helps to have an executor or someone who knows at least which file cabinets to look into.
Life insurance companies expect the beneficiary or next of kin to contact them and supply the death certificate or any other needed documentation.
One organization that’s surprisingly efficient about death is the Social Security Administration. I called them a couple of days after my father died and they informed me they already had a record of his death, had closed his account and I could expect his SS death benefit within a few days – a far quicker payoff than any insurance company.
So the obvious question is - how do they know? Is there some central clearinghouse of deaths that they can check, and do they match up SSN’s somehow?
I have a small life insurance through my retirement plan - obviously designed to cover funeral expenses, etc. I could imagine if someone moved around, and then kicked the bucket at aged 90, up to 35 years after retiring - who would remember that there was such a policy. Unless the benefits department was proactive and tied this notification to stopping pension payout - whch they obviously ARE motivated to do - this policy detail might eventually be forgotten by a spouse who was well past best-before date.
In the U.S. death certificates are issued by county clerks who are notified by the doctor, medical examiner or funeral director who processes the body. I imagine Social Security is tapping into some grand database of county clerks.
