Guide on how to claim life insurance – Mourning for the demise of a family member can be a distressing and painful experience for any individual. Thus, insurance companies have to ensure that the beneficiaries of the policy owner will not go through a stressful process of claiming life insurance benefits.

Essentially, the preliminary process of claiming the benefits of a policy requires very minimal time. But the process can be deferred if the policy owner withholds or omits some vital information during the application.

Death Certificate

All life insurance company necessitates a certified original copy of the policy owner’s death certificate. The certificate must be presented to express that a claim is absolutely valid and that the details enclosed may be used as proof or evidence in case an investigation is necessary.

Your claim for benefits cannot be fully processed if you will not submit a death certificate. Depending on the cause or circumstances of the policyholder’s death, it may take quite some time before an official certificate is issued.

Fill out life insurance claim forms accurately

Insurers oblige recipients to fill out a claim form to collect all the benefits of the life insurance policy. These papers provide the insurer with important information about the date and time of the policy owner’s death and other significant information about the policyholder and its designated beneficiaries.

Claiming the benefits of a policy is easy and would not take so much of your time.

Prepare supporting documents for life insurance

If the policy owner passes away within the first two years the life insurance plan has been issued, the policy is still in its contestability period. This permits the insurer to investigate the circumstances of the policy owner’s death to see if there is fraud or another sort of misrepresentation.

In these situations, the insurance company requires the appointed beneficiaries to present complete medical records that would prove that the demise of the insured is not a case of suicide or other deceitful schemes.

During the period of investigation, no claims will be paid until the life insurance company has completed the investigation on the issue and made sure that deception was not committed at all.

Settlement Options

After the life insurance company approves cash out your benefits, recipients may pick one of the available options with regard to the mode of payment.

Usually, beneficiaries opt to receive it in a single lump sum payment. Nevertheless, the recipient may also request monthly, quarterly or annual payments over a definite number of years.

Once the mode of payment has been selected, the proceeds of the policy will be moved to an interest-bearing account. This means that the fund will continue to grow until the payment arrangements have been fulfilled.