By STEPHEN SEITZ
Special to the Eagle Times
With the holidays upon us, a lot of people are scrambling to buy gifts, plan parties, host dinners, and travel.
Wouldn’t it be nice if there were money out there, just waiting for you to claim it? Because there just might be.
Most people are aware of their state’s unclaimed properties divisions, but there is a recent development: the Life Insurance Policy Locator system. The Life Insurance Policy Locator is a service provided by the National Association of Insurance Carriers.
Both Vermont and New Hampshire are part of this service, which finds the beneficiaries of unclaimed life insurance policies.
According to a statement from the Vermont Department of Financial Regulations (DFR), in the past year, 34 people in Vermont have collected $112,125 since the service was launched in 2016.
According to the statement, DFR Commissioner Michael Pieciak said, “This tool helps consumers easily navigate among each and every life insurance company licensed to do business in Vermont and connect them with any lost or unknown policies and any associated payments they are rightfully owed.”
Using this tool is not as easy as typing in your name and address and hoping to get lucky. You have to go through all the deceased’s records and documents, including the contents of safety deposit boxes. The life insurance companies will only contact you if they have found something, and they may require additional information.
In its first two years, the locator has matched 24,934 consumers nationally with policies, totaling $368 million, according to DFR. More than 48,000 consumers have conducted searches nationwide in that time. During its first year, the policy locator initially found $92.5 million in lost benefits for consumers. As more matches were made to requests from that year, the first-year total has increased to $166.7 million.
The other way to find money is through the Unclaimed Property Division in your state. New Hampshire is part of a search service called Missing Money. In Vermont, you deal directly with the state treasurer. Missing Money wants the first and last name of the claimant, as well as the state of residence. Vermont will let you search by name and/or town.
To use the Life Insurance Policy Locator, visit eapps.naic.org/life-policy-locator/#/welcome.
For New Hampshire residents, go to www.missingmoney.com. In Vermont, visit www.vermonttreasurer.gov, and find the Unclaimed Property Page.
Merry Christmas.
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