There is no compensation enough to fulfill the death of a loved one in the family, but life insurance provides momentarily financial support in the time of need.
Especially during the occasions of untimely accidental death, the life insurance death benefits have supported families in raising their children and helping them to cope with family situations in a very significant manner.
When an applicant files for a life insurance policy, he or she nominates a beneficiary who can receive the death benefits in case of death of the policyholder.
The beneficiary has to follow a process to file the death benefit claims with the insurance company in order to receive the money.
How One Can Claim Life Insurance Death Benefits
Contact Your Agent
The best person to approach in the beginning is to contact your insurance agent. He or she is fully acknowledged and held responsible to help the applicants in filing necessary claims and papers in times of need.
They will inform you about the necessary documentation involved in the procedure and assist you in filing the claim.
Therefore, reach out to your insurance agent and inform him about the death of the policyholder.
Fill Up the Claim Intimation Form
Life insurance companies have formatted ‘claim intimation forms’ that require details such as the cause of death, date, place, etc.
The nominee should approach the insurance company to inform about the death of the insured and fill up to submit the claim intimation form.
You can seek more information about this step by calling on the company.
Submission of Documents
The claim process will take further advances only when the applicant will submit the needed and valid documents pertaining to the claim.
We will help you with the list of expected documents here that you may need to submit at the time of filing the claim:
– The original life insurance policy papers and other documents
– Death certificate of the policyholder
– Discharge form
– Valid Id proof of the beneficiary
– Cause of death as stated in the proof (medical certificate to certify the same)
– Hospital records if the death occurred due to some prolonged medical condition
– A copy of the Police FIR if the death occurred unnaturally
– Cremation certificate issued by the authorities
Procession of the Claim
Once you have filed the claim for death benefits of life insurance, the claim assistance team will take over the case.
They will verify your documents and let you know the requirements if any, as the process takes place.
Pay-Outs
As and when your claim gets verified and approved, the claim assistance team will further your case to the payout department. This step doesn’t need your involvement to proceed.
The life insurance company will settle down the claim if all your documents are verified for genuineness and validation. The company will convey to you the channel through which the payment will be processed in your account.
They may ask you to submit your bank details or issue a cheque in the name of a beneficiary under all given records. It depends on the company whether they opt for a wired transfer process or direct payout.
Few Important Points
So, when you go through the above details the whole process of filing the claim for life insurance looks very legitimate and sophisticated.
However, in certain cases you need to be careful and must declare the holistic situation to the company:
– If the cause of death of the applicant is unnatural such as suicide or murder, then you must not try to modify the pieces of evidence to make it look natural.
In case of any suspicions and doubts, you may be stranded with no payout at all from the company end. They deserve the right to call off the agreement with the client at any point in time.
Therefore, be transparent in your approach with the insurance company at the time of filing a claim. Seek the guidance of your insurance agent or toll-free helpline of the company for details.
– If there is no nominee in the policy then you must provide proof of your legal entitlement to claim the death benefits. At the time of submission of documents, you must provide proof of your relationship with the policyholder and also the legality of your claims.
– In case the nominee also dies along with the policyholder then the immediate family or the next legal inheritor of the insured is bound to get the claim benefits as a priority.
– As a word of advice, it is suggested that the nominee should file for the claim at the earliest after the death of the beneficiary.
It is easier for companies to make inquiries about the causes of death and any other legal formality as the case file is freshly opened.
How Long Does the Whole Process Take Before Availing the Benefits?
The overall process takes not more than 30-45 days given to when you file the application. It doesn’t take much time once the claim gets settled as the company does instant payout to the beneficiary.
For the process to be faster and legitimate one must submit the valid and all necessary documents at once.
Since the insurance companies have a large database of customers, they also prefer to complete their dealings faster and keep the revenue database up to do date at their end.
Conclusion
Not to mention that no payout is bigger than the life of our loved ones but life insurance companies just provide compensation for the survivors’ lives to go on smoothly.
The process of filing the application is very simple yet one has to collect all the necessary documents at the time of proceeding of death obligations of the policyholder.
One must approach the life insurance company at the earliest and intimate them of the death of the policyholder at the earliest to make the claim.
If we can submit all the necessary documents at the right time, it takes around only 30 days for the whole process to get settled.
