For some years in the insurance world there has often been talk of dormant policies, but what are they? This expression refers to life policies that could be collected, but remain in the belly of the companies because the beneficiaries know nothing about them (or, more rarely, have forgotten them). It seems difficult to find oneself in this situation, but it is not so: in the middle of last year, the Insurance Supervisory Institute (IVASS) spoke of 900 "potentially dormant" policies in our country.
THE TWO TYPES OF DORMANT POLICIES
Life insurance policies can be of two types:
- contracts to cover the death of the insured;
- savings tools, that is insurance investment products.
They are transformed into dormant policies when the policyholder dies (in the first case) or the investment reaches maturity (in the second) and the beneficiary does not show up to collect the sums to which he is entitled.
THE RISK OF THE PRESCRIPTION
The problem is that the sleep of policies generates prescriptions. By law, the beneficiary of an insurance contract has 10 years to pocket the money owed to him. The term begins when the event covered by the policy occurs, ie the death of the policyholder or the expiry of the investment product. If after 10 years no one has presented to collect, the insurance companies must pay the money to the Dormant Relations Fund of Consap, the public insurance services concessionaire, a company 100% controlled by the Ministry of Economy.
HOW TO FIND OUT IF A DORMANT POLICY EXISTS IN YOUR NAME
Given that dormant policies are essentially hidden or forgotten contracts, in theory millions of Italians could harbor the suspicion that they have money to collect in some insurance company. To remove the doubt, the most obvious solution is to contact the bank or company used by the deceased family member. Alternatively, you can use the "Life insurance coverage research service" of Ania, the national association of insurance companies.
HOW TO AVOID LEAVING A DORMANT POLICY TO THE HEIRS
When taking out a life insurance policy, the full name of the beneficiary and all the contact details needed to contact him when the time comes must be indicated directly in the contract. Sometimes, however, this is not enough, because contacts can change over time and many people do not want the beneficiary to know that they have taken out a policy in favor of him. In these cases it is essential to take an extra precaution, that is to communicate the existence of the contract to a third person, so that this can inform the beneficiary in due time. In this way, the danger of turning the insurance into a dormant policy is avoided.
THE POLICIES AWAKENED BY IVASS
To avoid the prescription and ensure that the beneficiaries collect the amounts due, IVASS cross-references the tax codes of the policyholders - provided by the insurance companies - with the data on deaths obtainable from the Tax Registry of the Revenue Agency. Thus the Authority has so far reawakened nearly 190 dormant policies, for a total value of three and a half billion euros.
