Find unclaimed assets Life insurance and friendly societies
Tracking down forgotten life insurance can could be tricky
Life insurance
Tracking down old life insurance policies when you don’t have any policy details can be quite tricky, as the life insurance industry doesn’t operate a tracing service.
How to find them
The Association of British Insurers (ABI) suggests that you try the Unclaimed Assets Register, which has details of some unclaimed life policies (see ‘Tracing well-hidden assets’).
Of course, if you know the name of the company concerned, you can approach them directly. The ABI has a company directory which you can use to get up-to-date contact details.
Friendly societies
Friendly societies are mutual organisations offering savings and investments. There were hundreds of them in the early 1950s, but many of these have since merged or transferred their business.
How to find them
If you come across an old friendly society policy, it's quite likely that the friendly society no longer exists. But you can try to track down what’s happened to the policy by contacting the Association of Financial Mutuals (AFM), which has a back register of some mergers and transfers.
If you don’t have any policy details, but believe you, or perhaps a deceased relative, had a policy with a friendly society, you will be able to use the search service set up by the AFS called My Assets Reunited. The drawback is that it doesn’t cover every Friendly Society. Some that aren’t included already provide information to the Unclaimed Assets Register (see ‘Tracing well-hidden assets’).
- For a personalised solution, call our Money Helpline to talk to our experts
- Take a look at our guide to keeping your savings safe
- If you don't have the policy details for your friendly society, see our guide to tracing well hidden assets
