This service helps locate a deceased person’s life insurance policy by forwarding eligible requests to participating insurers. OLHI does not search insurers’ records directly and does not determine whether a policy exists.
OLHI reviews the request for eligibility and forwards the information to participating insurers, which conduct their own searches.
Before submitting your request
Please ensure that you meet the following requirements:
- Search on your own first: review our tips for trying to locate the policy yourself.
- Provide evidence that it exists: you must have specific information suggesting that a policy exists.
- Meet the time requirement: the death must have occurred more than 3 months but less than 2 years ago.
- Confirm that the policy is eligible: only life insurance policies issued in Canada are eligible.
- Submit a reasonable request: a reference in a will or another document may be sufficient. A general assumption or verbal confirmation is not.
How OLHI’s Search Works
After you submit your request, OLHI checks whether it meets the eligibility criteria listed above.
- If your request is eligible, your information is added to OLHI’s consolidated search list shared monthly with participating insurers. Each insurer then searches its own records. OLHI will contact you if additional information is required.
- If your request is not eligible, your information is not added to the search list and is not shared with participating insurers.
OLHI does not conduct the searches itself. It also does not send an acknowledgment or confirmation indicating whether a request was added to the search list or whether participating insurers completed their searches.
For privacy reasons, OLHI does not follow up on search results. If a policy is found, the insurer will contact the beneficiary or the estate directly, if permitted to do so.
Important to Know
- Participating companies: most Canadian life and health insurance companies participate in OLHI. However, if the policy was issued by a company that does not participate, the search will not be able to locate it through this service.
- Group policies: some group policies may not be found. You should also contact the deceased person’s former employers or associations.