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raised them as a single parent.
She found that there was no national life insurance registry to
document such information. So, she started one.
“Right then and there I had an epiphany,” Dennis recalls. “Starting a life insurance registry where loved ones can go and look and get this information would help them at their most cru-
cial times.”
Her epiphany bloomed from what Dennis learned during all
those hours running down claims. Life insurance companies make money two ways: from premiums paid in and from un- claimed benefits.
The unclaimed side of the business seemed to be built on insurance companies banking on the idea that if people don’t know where to look, there’s no way they would know what how to access what was already paid for. According to Dennis, $500 million in claims goes unpaid each year because loved ones don’t know where to look.
“For me, it is very rewarding because I believe that when peo- ple pay for something, they should get what they pay for, espe- cially in the insurance industry,” Dennis confirms. “You think about how that money can change the lives of a generation, how loved ones can be buried with dignity, respect and honor. It’s not like family members know their loved ones aren’t coming back, and there’s already been a conversation that, ‘My life insurance information is right over here in this cabinet.’”
Dennis is very formidable about Grandmama’s List ensuring the legacy of a loved one. The objective is to provide families an affordable, convenient and simple way to keep track of and se- cure their life insurance, long-term and pension-benefit infor- mation.
She wants her clients to have one telephone number to call to get all that information. She has seen situations in which all that information is burned up in a house fire. And what happens if, in the tornado-rich Midwest, those documents literally are blown away?
More down-to-earth, there is a generation of people taking care of parents who are living longer. These parents can suc- cumb to sudden heart attacks and strokes, which don’t leave time to locate the documents. Worse, cancer or Alzheimer’s can leave parents not knowing where the information is stored. And then there’s the current generation of Chicago Police Officers who face the risk of succumbing to bullets.
“When it comes to insurance, insurance companies are not going to hunt you down, whistling and skipping that your loved ones don’t know where to look,” Dennis accentuates. “I have spent the past 14 years making sure insurance companies pay people the benefits they are entitled to.”
Grandmama’s List keeps all important documents in a dig- ital shoebox that is never going to be destroyed. But that’s not the reason it has been getting such a good response in the eight months it has been available.
Part of the success is because the service is the first of its kind. Part of it is because Grandma Shelby is a life insurance agent who is there to help, who responds to a call when somebody needs something.
“Our mission is to ensure that the families know precise- ly where their important documents are,” Dennis emphasizes. “And to let spouses, children, grandchildren, parents, sisters and brothers benefit from their loved ones’ last ‘I love you’ — their life insurance.”
CHICAGO LODGE 7 ■ FEBRUARY 2019 53
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