I cannot find my policy documents. What now?
The contract still exists. What you have lost is evidence of an agreement rather than the agreement itself, so coverage, values and provisions are untouched. Ask the insurer for a certified copy of the contract as issued together with every endorsement and change recorded since. Expect to prove you are the recorded owner before anything is released.
What kind of answer this is
- Claim type: Contract fact
- Claim type: Depends on the policy
- Jurisdiction: Canada wide
That coverage does not depend on possession of the paper is a contract fact. What each insurer charges for a replacement copy, and how it verifies identity, is administrative practice.
How it works
The insurer holds the definitive record, and the document sent to you at issue was a copy of it. A written request from the recorded owner, quoting the contract number or enough detail to find it, produces another copy. Where the number is gone, the insurer can usually search by name and date of birth.
The cost or the catch
The delay is the problem rather than the fee. A search across an acquired block can take weeks, and it is a poor thing to begin during a claim. Requesting the copy while nothing is urgent costs an afternoon.
Where this answer may not apply
- Very old contracts are sometimes reconstructed from the insurer's records rather than reproduced, and the reconstruction can be incomplete.
- Where the issuing company was acquired, the request goes to whichever company now administers the block, and finding it can take time.
- A person who is not the recorded owner will not be given the contract, whoever pays the premiums.
- A copy proves what the contract says. It does not prove the contract is still in force, which is a separate confirmation to request.
What to verify in your own contract
- Which company administers the contract today, which may not be the name printed on it.
- That the copy supplied includes riders, endorsements and every change form.
- Written confirmation that the contract is in force as at a stated date.
- What identification the insurer requires, asked before assembling anything.
- Where the replacement copy will be kept, and who else knows it exists.
Continue to the full explanation
Prepare for an existing policy review.
Sources
- Insurer policy services and certified copy procedures, insurer specific, verified 2026-08-30
- Assuris, published information on transferred and acquired blocks of business, verified 2026-08-30
Accountability and disclosure
- Written by
- José Salloum
- Professional capacity
- Financial security advisor, Canadian Wealth Creation Centre Inc., operating as IBC Financial
- Reviewed by
- Insurance and contract education tier, reviewed under a licensed insurance professional's own authority
- Jurisdiction
- Canada wide
- Last reviewed
- 2026-08-30
- Version
- 1.0
- Compensation disclosure
- Canadian Wealth Creation Centre Inc., operating as IBC Financial, may receive insurer paid compensation if a policy is purchased. It takes the form of first year compensation followed by renewal compensation, and the amount varies by insurer, product, age, premium, contract design, riders and the arrangement with the managing general agency. No single figure would describe every contract honestly, and none is published here.
- Report a correction
- Info@ibcfinancial.com. Write without a policy number, medical information or account details.
Last reviewed 2026-08-30. By Jose Salloum, Financial Security Advisor.