Life insurance: how do you know if you are a beneficiary of a deceased insured?

Verified 01 January 2025 - Directorate for Legal and Administrative Information (Prime Minister)

A relative has died. You want to know if he had taken out a life insurance contract. There are 2 cases:

  • You think you're the beneficiary of a life insurance contract
  • You think you know who might be the beneficiary.

Any person may ask to look for the existence of a life insurance contract for a deceased person.

You have to ask theAgira: titleContent. A request to the Agira is free.

If you wish to do so, you must attach a copy of the death certificate of the person who signed the contract.

You can do this on the Internet or by mail:

On the Internet

You must use the following online service:

Request a search for life insurance beneficiaries

By mail

You can use one of the following document templates:

Know if you have life insurance

You should send your mail to the Insurance Risk Information Management Association (Agira):

Who shall I contact

  • Insurance Risk Information Management Association (Agira)

    Organizes the search for unclaimed life insurance contracts in the event of the death of the policyholder.

    By mail

    1 Jules Lefebvre Street

    75431 Paris Cedex 09

Within 15 days of receiving the request, the Agira will inform all insurance companies of the death of the insured.

Each insurer who receives this request must carry out the research to determine whether there is a contract or several contracts signed by the deceased person.

If you are designated as a beneficiary, the insurer has 1 month to inform you of the existence of a contract for your benefit.

Once the insurer has become aware of the beneficiary's contact details, it must contact the beneficiary and ask him to provide all the documents necessary for the payment of the principal.

FYI  

Even if you have the opportunity to contact Agira to find out if a person is a beneficiary of a life insurance contract, the insurer can only contact the beneficiary of the life insurance contract and not the claimant.

If you are the beneficiary of a contract signed by a deceased person, the insurer must pay you the principal within 1 month after receiving all the documents necessary for payment.

After that period, the unpaid capital shall bear interest at the rate of:

  • 14.42% for 2 months,
  • 21.63% after the 2-month period.

Please note

L'Agira: titleContent is competent to search for life insurance contracts of a deceased person for less than 10 years.

Whether the person has died for more than 10 yearsHowever, you have to contact the Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations (CDC) using its online service Ciclade.

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