Life Insurance in South Carolina

Coverage through Valor Life Benefits is open to people who live in South Carolina. The South Carolina Department of Insurance in Columbia licenses the insurers and agents doing business in the state and handles consumer complaints about them.

South Carolina Department of Insurance Resources

The Department's website has a File a Complaint section for consumers and posts a South Carolina life insurance FAQ.

South Carolina Policies, Spouses and Beneficiaries

South Carolina is not one of the nine community property states. The death benefit goes to the beneficiaries named in the policy. Update the form after a marriage, divorce, birth or death in the family. Have each beneficiary's Social Security or tax identification number ready, and keep in mind that a minor child cannot receive the money directly.

A policy with no living beneficiary pays into the estate of the insured person instead.

The NAIC buyer's guide notes that a new policy can usually be returned for a full refund within a set period, usually 10 days after you receive it, and that the period is usually stated on the first page. It lists the questions to answer once the policy arrives: is your personal information correct, do premiums or values change from year to year, which parts of the premium or policy value are not set by contract, and how the timing of payments affects any interest the policy earns.

The NAIC guide adds a point for the application itself: tell the truth on every question, because a company that finds false statements after issuing the policy can reduce or cancel the coverage.

Unclaimed Life Insurance in South Carolina

When a family is not sure a policy exists, the Insurance Information Institute suggests starting with the person's own papers: bank statements showing checks or drafts to a life insurance company, premium or dividend notices in the mail, and tax returns from the last two years that show interest from an insurer. An application attached to one policy often lists the other policies the person owned.

The Department links to the NAIC Life Insurance Policy Locator. Death benefits that an insurer cannot pay out are sent to the state, and the South Carolina Treasurer's unclaimed property program holds them. The Treasurer reports that millions of dollars move into the program each year from companies that could not find the owners. Its site includes a search for unclaimed property.

Coverage for South Carolina Residents

South Carolinians can apply for term life, permanent whole life, burial and final expense coverage, mortgage protection insurance and indexed universal life insurance. Rules for the other states are on the pages for Texas, Colorado and Michigan.