HELENA, Mont., Sept. 1 -- The Montana Commissioner of Securities and Insurance issued the following news release:

State Auditor James Brown is kicking off National Life Insurance Awareness Month by connecting Montanans to a free tool that helps beneficiaries find unclaimed life insurance policies.

The Life Insurance Policy Locator, hosted by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) with the support of the State Auditor's Office, helps identify unclaimed life insurance policies and annuity contracts by searching records of participating insurance companies on behalf of a potential beneficiary. This service is performed at no cost to the consumer.

The numbers evidence the importance of this tool - from December 2016 throu...