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Demutualization is another member of the
unclaimed or missing money family. A
demutualization is the conversion of a mutual
insurance company, that is owned by its
policyholders, into a stock company, that is
owned by shareholders. The insurance company
continues to exist, but its corporate formation
and ownership are altered. Eligible
policyholders exchange their ownership rights
in the mutual life insurance company for common
shares of the new company, cash, policy
enhancements and rights consistent with those
of a typical publicly-owned company. Your
policy rights are not affected. You still
retain your policy and its associated
"contract" rights.
The largest non-government holder of unclaimed
money are Life Insurance companies. Almost 30%
of all life insurance benefits in excess of
$500,000,000 go unpaid or unclaimed upon the
death of the policyholder. Family members don't
notify the insurance company simply because
they not aware the deceased person might have
had more than one policy. As a result, life
insurance companies become separated from their
policyholders and the beneficiaries- usually
because they have not been notified of name or
address change.
Governmental and State Unclaimed Property
Agencies are beginning to become more involved
in the area of unclaimed property and began
demanding more information about these
unclaimed policies be turned over. Many states
do not presume abandonment of life insurance
policies until the insured policyholder would
have reached the age of over 100 years. As a
result, this type of unclaimed assets may not
show up in a government database for some time.
It is the responsibility of the beneficiary to
contact the life insurance company and there is
no central database to search such.
Another source of unclaimed money with life
insurance companies has been the recent
demutualization of some of the largest
insurance companies. Again, Demutualization
refers to a reorganization in which a mutual
insurance company becomes a stock company. This
is accomplished through the payment of stock or
cash to the policyholders upon the
discontinuation of the mutual company. This
reorganization has no impact on the actual life
insurance policy.
The majority of the largest U.S. insurers
are home officed in Connecticut. As the
capital of the Insurance industry, Connecticut
holds 100,000s of unclaimed life insurance
policies due to demutualization and mergers.
Demutualization does not affect your policy
benefits or affect your policy premiums. Few
Money Finder and Property Locator companies
know to look for this member of the unclaimed
money family. We have the ability to aid
you in access to millions of unclaimed Life
Insurance policies that have escheated for
policyholders heirs to claim.
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