What is the best way to handle record keeping and my policy?

Record keeping for life insurance policies

Keeping complete records about a life insurance policy is an important step in purchasing and maintaining a life insurance policy. Someone other than the insured will be reviewing the records in order to file a claim, so it’s helpful if they are easy to find and as complete as possible.

For each life insurance policy make sure to record:

• The name of the issuing company and its headquarters office information
• The name and contact information of the agent who sold the policy
• The policy number and the type of policy, term or whole
• The date the policy was issued
• The amount of the death benefit
• The location of the original copy of the insurance policy

If the policy was purchased as part of a group policy, make sure to also include the name of the employer or group sponsor and its contact information, and the certificate number. For any other programs that have a death benefit – such as travel insurance, credit card, or annuities – make sure to record the same type of information. Update this information when any changes are made.

No matter how the information is recorded, make sure to keep copies where survivors will look for them – with other important papers or in a file cabinet, for example. It is also important that the information be stored in at least two places, one of them outside the home – at a friend’s house, in a safe deposit box, or, for computerized records, backed-up off-site somehow.