Life insurance: how do you know if you are a beneficiary of a deceased insured?

Verified 08 October 2026 - Public Service / (Prime Minister)

If a loved one has died and you want to know if they had taken out a life insurance policy, there are 2 possible cases:

  • You think you're the beneficiary of a life insurance contract
  • You think you know who might be the beneficiary.

Any person may request to search for the existence of a life insurance contract of a deceased person. We have to question theAgira: titleContent.

FYI  

The Agira is competent to search for life insurance contracts of a person whose death is known for less than 10 years. If the insurer knew of the death for more than 10 years, it no longer holds the funds and must contact the Caisse des dépôts et consignations (CDC) using its online service Ciclade.

A request to the Agira is free.

If you wish to do this, you must attach a copy of the death certificate of the person who would have subscribed to the contract.

You can do this on the internet (or by post if you cannot use the internet):

On the internet

You must use an online service:

Agira VIE: request the search for the beneficiaries of a life insurance contract

By post

If you cannot use the internet, you must send your request to the Association for the Management of Insurance Risk Information (Agira).

Who shall I contact

  • Organizes the search for unclaimed life insurance contracts in case of death of the subscriber.

    By post

    Agira Research Life Insurance Contracts

    26 Boulevard Haussmann

    75311 Paris Cedex 09

In the 15 days following receipt of the request, theAgira will inform all insurance companies of the death of the insured person.

Each insurer that receives this request must conduct research to determine whether there is one or more contracts entered into by the deceased person.

If you are designated as a beneficiary, the insurer has 1 month , from the receipt of the request transmitted by Agira, to inform you of the existence of a contract for your benefit.

FYI  

Even if you have the possibility to contact Agira to find out if a person is a beneficiary of a life insurance contract, the insurer can only contact the beneficiary the life insurance contract, not with the applicant.

Once the insurer has read the beneficiary's contact information, it must contact the beneficiary to ask him to provide all the documents necessary for the payment of the capital.

If you are a beneficiary of a contract signed by a deceased person, the insurer must pay you the principal within 1 month after receipt of all the documents necessary for payment.

Beyond of that period, the unpaid capital produces interest double the legal interest rate for 2 months, then at triple the legal interest rate.

Please note

A number of measures are in place to prevent the sums of life insurance contracts from not being distributed to their beneficiaries:

  • THEinsurer must regularly search for deceased insured persons himself. Every year, the insurer is obliged to check its customer file by consulting the official register of deaths (RNIPP: titleContent). In the event of the death of an insured person, he must spontaneously seek and contact the beneficiaries by any means.
  • THEAgira allows you to ask insurers who keep the funds of deceased insured persons for 10 years, from the date they became aware of the death. After this 10-year period, the insurers transfer the unclaimed amounts to the Caisse des dépôts et consignations.
  • Ciclade allows you to search for sums deposited at the Caisse des dépôts et consignations. Amounts from unclaimed life insurance contracts are recoverable via Ciclade for 20 years from the date of their transfer to the Caisse des dépôts.
  • A notary, in charge of settlement of an estate, may query Ficovia to find out whether there are any life insurance policies taken out by the deceased person. The notary may act only on written request of the heirs.

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