The Illinois Department of Insurance (DOI) announced that Illinois families have now claimed more than $4.6 million in life insurance since July 1, 2016 using the Illinois Life Policy Locator Service. The free service helps families find a deceased person’s lost life insurance policies and annuities. Since January 31, 2017, DOI recovered nearly $3 million for Illinois families. “We are glad so many Illinois residents are using this free service and recovering what is rightfully theirs,” said Department of Insurance Director Jennifer Hammer. “We hope more families are able to benefit from this process that cuts through the bureaucratic red tape in just a few simple steps.” For a consumer, the process is as follows: a potential beneficiary submits the necessary information including a copy of the death certificate to the Life Policy Locator Service on the DOI website; a paper application is available if necessary. Then, DOI contacts 485 Illinois-licensed companies to search their records for any life insurance policies or annuity contracts insuring the person who died. If a policy is found, that insurance company will contact the requestor if they are authorized to receive this information within 30 days to complete the claim process.