Jefferson City, MO - The Missouri Department of Insurance and the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) today announced a national service that provides consumers with search capabilities to help find a deceased person’s lost life insurance policies and annuities.

The NAIC’s Life Insurance Policy Locator provides nationwide access for assistance with finding life insurance policies and annuities. An estimated $1 billion in benefits from life insurance policies are unclaimed, according to Consumer Reports. The new tool builds on the life insurance policy locator programs developed separately in a number of states before this launch. 

"We are helping connect consumers with life insurance and annuity benefits that they are entitled to receive -- this program is technology at its best," said Missouri Insurance Director John M. Huff.  

Consumer requests are encrypted and secured to maintain confidentiality. Participating insurers will compare submitted requests with available policyholder information and report all matches to state insurance departments through the locator. Companies will then contact beneficiaries or their authorized representatives. 

In 2015, life insurers paid more than $74 billion in insurance policy benefits to consumers nationwide. Since 2010, state insurance regulators have investigated unclaimed life insurance benefits. To date, nearly 23 regulatory actions have resulted in returning more than $6.75 billion life insurance proceeds to U.S. consumers.

Consumers and insurance companies with questions about the Life Insurance Policy Locator can contact the department's Insurance Consumer Hotline at 800-726-7390 or visit insurance.mo.gov.