They don't contact your life insurance beneficiaries when you die

Traditionally, life insurance companies wait until policy beneficiaries notify them that an insured person has died. This laid-back approach worked pretty well for them until state regulators discovered that life insurers can easily find out if a customer died, and notify his or her beneficiaries. Insurers already use a Social Security file called "Death Master" to cancel an annuity when a policyholder dies. This benefits the insurer, who stops making annuity payments upon the customer’s death.

Insurance commissioners say there are millions of unclaimed dollars because insurers didn't notify the beneficiaries of these policies after the insured died.