by trek186 » Sat May 26, 2012 03:15 pm
Hello everyone. My Google-fu can't seem to help me, so I'm turning to the people who hopefully may know this: you.
A few years ago during a bout of unemployment (thanks to the financial collapse) my father told me that he and my mother had been paying into a life insurance policy for me since I was a little kid, and that it had a cash value of about $12,000 at that point. Due to some recent twists and turns in the relationship with my parents, I suspect they may have not been telling me the whole truth about my policy.
Not only do I not live with my parents anymore, I would not have any idea where in their files my insurance info would be. Is there anywhere on the web where I can at the very least find out which insurer/agent wrote the policy? Ideally I'd like to be able to see the status of the policy and all of its legal mumbo jumbo.
Thanks for the help!
A few years ago during a bout of unemployment (thanks to the financial collapse) my father told me that he and my mother had been paying into a life insurance policy for me since I was a little kid, and that it had a cash value of about $12,000 at that point. Due to some recent twists and turns in the relationship with my parents, I suspect they may have not been telling me the whole truth about my policy.
Not only do I not live with my parents anymore, I would not have any idea where in their files my insurance info would be. Is there anywhere on the web where I can at the very least find out which insurer/agent wrote the policy? Ideally I'd like to be able to see the status of the policy and all of its legal mumbo jumbo.
Thanks for the help!
Posted: Sun May 27, 2012 12:44 am Post Subject:
With near certainty, one of your parents is going to be the owner of the policy. That means that even if you knew all of the information about the policy, the agent/company wouldn't be allowed to discuss any details with you.
The bottom line is that if you can't talk to your parents, this is going to remain a mystery to you.
Posted: Sun May 27, 2012 04:22 am Post Subject:
Actually as the insured, he/she is a party to the contract and can obtain information about its existence. The problem is, unless mom or dad shed some light on which company, you aren't likely to find out. Even if you got lucky and called the right company with your social security number, the odds of everything being in order on their end to match you up with certainly are low.
Mom and dad bought and paid for it, they retain ownership. The details are going to be tough to come by unless you can mend that relationship.
Posted: Sun May 27, 2012 11:59 pm Post Subject:
Are you sure that the insured is a party to the contract?
Aren't the parties, the applicant and the insurance company?
With a contract, doesn't there have to be consideration? The insured gives no consideration and receives no consideration.
The insured doesn't strike me as being any more of a party to an insurance contract than a home is a party to a home owner's policy.
Regardless, I see nothing that allows the insurance company to release any information to the insured without consent from the owner. I've never seen any insurance company that has a form that an insured signs to get any information from an insurance company that doesn't also have to be signed by the owner.
If you have an example of me being wrong about this, please let me know. I'd appreciate it.
Posted: Tue May 29, 2012 11:13 am Post Subject:
As the insurance was done by your parents so it is obvious that one of them have the sole authority of the insurance regarding its coverage and all the things and if they want, then it may also happen that insurance may also be altered and regarding the details, there is no such place in the internet where you can find the details of your insurance without being noticed from your parents or from the insurance company.
Posted: Thu May 31, 2012 12:49 am Post Subject:
Are you sure that the insured is a party to the contract?
Aren't the parties, the applicant and the insurance company?
The parties to an insurance contract are the owner/insured and the insurance company. In the majority of individual contracts, the owner is the insured. However, when an insured is (at the time of application/policy issue) a minor, the owner must be an adult (or other "person" with legal capacity to contract, such as a trust).
Those contracts (and all others in which the owner and the insured are not the same persons) are known as "third party ownership" contracts, and the insured, technically, is one of the three parties. But the insured, who is not the owner, has no power to effect any changes in the contract and, although it may, the insurance company typically does not provide policy information to the insured, except when the owner has predeceased the insured, or when the living owner consents to the release of information.
Additionally, an owner or insured can each be someone other than the applicant (a common occurrence: Grandma APPLIES for the policy on Johnny, the insured child, and names her adult son/daughter, Johnny's parent, as the owner). Just another signature on the application, but not a party at interest to the contract. (Business uses of insurance are another common situation like this. The corporation is the applicant, the employee is the insured, and a different corporate entity is the owner.)
Certain juvenile policies, however, are written in a way that ownership of the contract automatically changes to the (now adult) child at a specific age, such as 21 or 25 (usually dictated by the state's adoption of UTMA or UGMA law).
As BNTRS has said, the complicating matter is the fact that the OP has no idea what insurance company is involved. Contrary to what ronekenn has said, the Medical Information Bureau's subsidiary, MIB Solutions, Inc, has a "lost policy locator" service that may be able to identify the insurance company involved.
Try here: www.mibsolutions.com/lost-life-insurance/
Posted: Sat Jun 02, 2012 10:34 am Post Subject:
Max, you are giving more incorrect info. The insured MUST be dead in order to use the MIB lost policy service.
Posted: Sun Jun 03, 2012 12:08 am Post Subject:
My bad. You're correct, a death certificate must accompany the request for the report.
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