Claiming a Life Insurance Policy
When someone dies, it's important for the beneficiary or other family members to find out about the life insurance policy. This way, you can begin making the necessary arrangements and have some money with which to do so. If you need help paying for the funeral or any medical costs that accrued, you might be able to use portions of the life insurance policy to help pay these things off. Reporting a death on the policy will be your first and most important step, but it isn't too difficult.
The first thing you want to do when a loved one dies is to find out what company they used for their life insurance. If you aren't able to find out where they bought their policy from, perhaps you can find an actual copy of the policy in some of the paperwork in their home. They might keep it with some tax forms, birth certificate, paycheck stubs, or a number of other important pieces of paperwork they have. If you still can't find a paper policy, perhaps you should contact their employer, who might have an idea of what life insurance policy they had.
Contacting the Insurance Company
Once you've figured out which company the life insurance policy was purchased from, you'll be able to contact them. You'll want to know some personal information about the person whose policy you're claiming. You might want to know their name, address, and possibly even their social security number. You will also need to produce the death certificate at some time, because you will need to prove the death and the cause of death to the life insurance money in order to have access to the lump sum benefit. If the beneficiary is no longer alive, you might have more problems trying to get the money.
When you contact the life insurance agency, the agent will probably send you some paperwork to fill out. Whether or not you are the beneficiary, you might need the beneficiary to sign certain forms in order to be able to receive the money. You want to fill out all the paperwork as promptly as possible so you can get closer to receiving the settlement. If the policyholder had a specific agent in their area, you will definitely want to get into contact with this person to get the fastest and safest service.
Resolving Problems with Insurance
If you cannot find out where your loved one purchased their life insurance policy, you might want to contact different life insurance companies that were in their area. You should be able to find some documents that show you where the policy was from. If the policyholder was your spouse, you won't have much trouble locating the proper forms and documents that will help you get the money. A benefit will come in two different forms, a lump sum or monthly installments. Depending on the policyholder's plan, you will receive the money as soon as the paperwork is processed.
If a policyholder outlives their term policy, they won't be able to keep the benefit active, unless they change the terms of the policy before it lapses. If a policy lapses, no one will receive the money. The other way a policy can lapse is if the payments aren't made on time or the beneficiary dies before the policyholder. To prevent these things from happening, a policyholder should always name a contingent beneficiary to receive the money if the first beneficiary is unable to do so. If you have any questions about claiming a life insurance policy, contact the agent.
