Advice from Nashville's Financial Guru Dave Ramsey
Dave Says
By Dave Ramsey
Author of Financial Peace and The Total Money Makeover
2/21/2005
"Need help finding mother's lost insurance company?"
Dear Dave,
My mother-in-law purchased a single-premium insurance policy back in 1977 for
$21,000. She passed away last year and I just found this in a drawer. I tried to
contact the insurance company in Philadelphia, PA by calling the phone number
listed on the policy, but the phone number is for a different company. How do I
find current contact information for this company?
I tried calling the Pennsylvania Department of Insurance, but was put on hold
for so long I finally just hung up.
Sue in Grand Rapids, MI
Dear Sue,
That would be the correct place to call and get their contact information.
Insurance is regulated stat-by-state. In order to sell insurance in a particular
state, the insurance company must register with that state. So, the Pennsylvania
state insurance commissioner will have a record of what has happened to this
company – including if they changed names, merged with another company, moved or
simply went out of business. You may also write to American Counsel of Life
Insurance, Attn: Missing Policy Service, P O Box 615, Riva, MD 21140 and, for a
small fee, they will contact the top 100 insurance companies to find out which
one issued the policy.
Just as a side note, if the company has gone out of business, you will probably
still be able to collect on the insurance. Each state manages a risk pool into
which all of the insurance companies in that state pay. If a company goes out of
business, then the claims are paid out from that risk pool.
-Dave
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