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John Hancock Life Insurance Policy Help

Old policies found in family papers, beneficiary changes, billing and independent reviews

John Hancock is one of the older names in American life insurance, and age shows up in the kind of questions people have. Certificates turn up in shoeboxes and safe deposit boxes long after the person who bought them has died. Owners who are still paying are often paying on something arranged a very long time ago. Others hold newer coverage bought through a broker and want a second opinion on how it is performing. The common thread is a document that needs reading by someone who reads them for a living. John Hancock is the United States brand of Manulife, its individual life insurance is issued by John Hancock Life Insurance Company (U.S.A.) and in New York by John Hancock Life Insurance Company of New York, and it is sold by appointed financial professionals working with brokerage general agencies.

Common reasons people call about a John Hancock policy

• An old policy discovered after a death. A relative sorting an estate finds a certificate or a receipt book with no way of knowing if it means anything today. Very old policies were sometimes small by design, sometimes paid up long ago, and sometimes long since ended. Figuring out which requires the insurer's records.
• Who has the right to ask. Families are frequently stopped at this first hurdle. An insurer will discuss a policy with the owner or a named beneficiary, and an executor with the right documentation, but not with anyone who happens to be holding the paper.
• Beneficiary designations that are out of date. A former spouse still named, a beneficiary who has since died, or no backup named at all. The insurer pays according to its own record, so the fix is a form filed with the insurer.
• Billing gone wrong. Premiums stopped when an account closed, a card expired, or a notice went to an old address. Whether the coverage survived that depends on when it happened and what the contract says about grace and reinstatement.
• Cash value on a permanent policy. Owners wanting to know what has built up, whether it can be borrowed against, and what a withdrawal or a surrender would actually leave them with after any charges and tax.
• Performance questions on newer coverage. Policies whose value depends on interest crediting or on investment accounts do not sit still, and owners reasonably want to know whether the plan they were shown at the start is still on track.
• Making a claim. A beneficiary who has the death certificate and needs to know the order of the steps.

What to have ready before you call

• The full legal name of the insured, including a maiden name if there was one.
• The approximate year the policy was taken out.
• Any paperwork at all. Old certificates, premium receipt books, statements and letters are all worth having in front of you.
• The beneficiary named, if you know.
• The state or city where the insured lived at the time, if the policy is an old one.

If all you have is a name, say so and start there. That is a normal starting point and there is a process for it. This page will never ask you for a Social Security number, a date of birth or a policy number, and you should not enter those into a web form. The insurer will verify who you are directly, on its own line.

Before you cancel or replace anything

Surrendering or lapsing a policy is a one-way door in most cases. New coverage is underwritten on the person you are today, so the price reflects your current age and current health, and a diagnosis in the intervening years can put a new policy out of reach. Replacement normally also restarts the early period in which an insurer is entitled to review the original application if a claim arises. Very old contracts can carry terms that no insurer offers now, which is a reason to be slow about giving one up. The reverse is also sometimes true, since a policy that has become unaffordable is not doing its job either, and there are often ways to keep part of the coverage rather than all or nothing. This is a comparison to make on paper with a licensed independent agent before anything is canceled.

Questions people ask