Life Insurance Policy Consent: Could There Be a Policy Out on You?

The likelihood that you’re insured by a life insurance policy, taken out by another, without your consent is slim, but it is possible. Under most circumstances, however, this policy would have had to be established fraudulently if you did not explicitly sign it into existence.

Legal Circumstances

There are minimal circumstances where a legal life insurance policy exists that didn’t require your consent, which are:

• The policy was established by your parent, or legal guardian, before you reached age fifteen and is either a term policy still in effect, or a whole term policy without expiration;
• You are the spouse of someone employed by a company that offers group life insurance benefits which extend to their spouse (these policy amounts typically are not substantial).

Fraudulent Circumstances

Pretty much all other circumstances are going to be fraudulent in nature; this is due to the stringent application process put into place by insurance companies which require the consent of the insured for a policy to be established. To get around this process, a policy buyer would have to forge signatures, and all other legal documentation. In most cases, this isn’t possible (as outlined below), however, there are some insurance companies that have minimal requirements for obtaining a policy and allow policies to be established via mail. To check with Suncorp directly, just follow this link.

Typical Life Insurance Policy Requirements

For most life insurance policy applications to be approved, the following must be obtained from the insured:

• An Approved Medical Examination from a Licensed Physician
• Signed and Documented Consent for the Release of Medical Records
• Insurer Sign-Off on Finalized Policy
• Consent from the Insured that the Policy Buyer Possesses “Insurable Interest” (this basically determines whether, or not, the policy buyer has any business taking out an insurance policy on you—in terms of life protect, the policy buyer must be someone who would be affected financially if something should happen to you)

Furthermore, as of 2006, it is no longer possible for your business partners to take out an insurance policy on you without consent. It used to be that they could do so—it’s a common practice amongst business partners still—but uproar ensued after families were discovering that the amount they were allotted from company policies was minimal compared to the amount the company was gaining, without the insured ever being aware before passing.

How to Find Out if a Policy Has Been Established Without Consent

An excellent resource for this is the Medical Insurance Bureau (MIB Group), which possesses over 170 million records, dating back 14 years, which contain information regarding insurance applications filed within that time. If a policy has been taken out on you, then the MIB will have a file under your name and social security number.

Rest assured that these files do not contain extensive information regarding you, or your medical history, but are used only to monitor fraudulent activity regarding insurance applications.

In order to obtain your free file, visit the MIB website and obtain their toll-free number. When you call, you will be asked a series of questions in order to identify you, so have the following ready:

• Full Name (Surname)
• Birthdate
• Birthplace
• Occupation
• SSN
• Recent Addresses
• Phone Number

Processing can take up to two weeks, but is typically shorter, and your file will be delivered to you by mail. Upon receiving your file, you’ll notice that it’s just the bare bones. As David Aronson, Marketing Director for MIB, explains, “We don’t have medical records here. Only small bits of information reported by our members. The mission of MIB is to prevent fraud and misrepresentation.”