A paid-up life insurance policy may have no recent premiums. Group insurance may not appear on personal insurance records at all. It’s better to be systematic than call insurers at random.
Our editorial team reviewed OLHI’s current lost-policy search process, the Autorité des marchés financiers’ search guide, the federal insurance-claim guide, and Clicklaw’s reviewed Canadian search guide.
How Can You Find Out If a Deceased Person Had Life Insurance?
Start by checking the person’s paper and online files; contact advisers, current and former employers, and other organizations; and check whether travel, credit-card or other benefits include life insurance.
Call any insurer known to have issued a policy. You do not always need the original policy to notify the insurer of the death. The insurer will tell the beneficiary or legally authorized estate representative which documents are required, such as proof of entitlement and claim forms.
OLHI also offers a Free Life Insurance Search if you can’t locate any policies. To use this service, you need specific evidence suggesting that a Canadian-issued policy exists and must meet certain waiting periods.
Who Can Ask for Records?
Being related to the deceased, whether by blood or marriage, doesn’t give relatives access to bank or credit-card accounts or to records held by the deceased’s employers or insurers.
Executors, estate trustees or liquidators in Quebec will be asked for identification and may have to prove that the person is dead and that they’re entitled to act for the deceased. Never use the deceased’s usernames or passwords.
If you are the named beneficiary on an insurance policy, you can contact the insurer and ask about making a claim.
Read More: See How Contingent Life Insurance Beneficiaries Work
What to Do If You Can’t Find the Person’s Insurance Policy
OLHI does not search insurers’ policy records. OLHI will review the information you provide. If it is eligible, OLHI adds this information to a list sent to participating insurers each month. If any of them locate a matching policy and privacy rules permit contact, the insurer will contact the beneficiary or estate.
It may also help to check provincial and territorial unclaimed-property programs. Rules vary by province or territory. These programs accept funds from insurers when a benefit is payable, but the intended recipient cannot be located.
| OLHI requirement | What it means |
|---|---|
| Search on your own first | Before you apply, search using the records, adviser, employer and association steps. |
| Specific evidence | A reference in a will or another concrete clue may be enough. A general belief is not. |
| Timing | The death must have occurred more than three months but less than two years ago. |
| Canadian policy | Only life insurance policies issued in Canada qualify for the service. |
| Participating insurers | Although most insurers participate, non-participating insurers and certain group coverage may not be found. |
Read More: Learn How Life Insurance Payouts Work in Canada
What to Do After Finding a Person’s Life Insurance Policy
- Contact the insurance company through its official customer-service channel and ask how to make a claim. Do not send original documents unless asked, and use tracked delivery for anything important.
- Confirm who may claim. Life insurance proceeds payable to a named beneficiary are different from proceeds payable to the deceased’s estate.
- Provide the required proof, which may include the policy number, a death certificate, identification, bank information and estate documents.
- Read the policy for its notice and claim deadlines.