Life Insurance Policy- What to Do If You Have Misplaced Your Original Policy Document?

Receiving a life insurance claim is simple if you have all of the necessary documentation. To file a claim, you simply need to contact the company and provide the necessary documentation. However, it becomes tedious if you do not have any of the required documents. The original copy, along with the other documents, must be submitted by the purchaser of the insurance policy in the event of maturity or when claiming money in the event of the nominee's death. The nominee must provide valid identity proof as well as the original document. As a result, the document must be kept intact and submitted to the company by the purchaser. Policyholders may occasionally misplace or lose documents required to file a claim. Here is what should be done if original policy document is misplaced or lost.

Inform your insurer immediately

If the purchaser loses the document, the first thing to do is contact the insurance company. You can also contact the agent from whom you purchased the policy. If the agent cannot be reached immediately, the buyer should contact the nearest insurer and explain the situation. An application for the issuance of a duplicate insurance policy must be submitted, along with a copy of the FIR, an advertisement, and an indemnity bond.

Placing an advertisement

Insurers frequently insist on publishing an advertisement in a daily newspaper regarding the loss of a policy document. The advertisement must be published in the same state where the policy bond was lost. In general, advertisements are given in both English and a vernacular language, and in some cases, the lost document is found and delivered to the owners. One month after the advertisement appears in the newspaper, you must send a copy to your insurance company.

File a police complaint

Some companies request a copy of the police complaint report for misplaced insurance policy documents, in which case the insured party must file a police complaint, which authenticates the fact that the policy document has been lost and thus expedites the request for a duplicate copy of the claim. A copy of the complaint must be submitted along with the application for a duplicate policy.

Sign an indemnity bond

If you lose the original insurance bond, you must usually sign an indemnity bond on non-judicial stamp paper. An indemnity bond is typically signed on stamp paper by the insurer and the owner of the lost document. This is to ensure that no misappropriation of the original document occurs during the process of issuing a duplicate policy document. The indemnity bond protects your insurer against any loss caused by the misuse of the original document. It also states that if you find it then you should return the original policy document to your insurer

After that, your insurance company will issue a duplicate copy of your policy bond after reviewing all of the documents. The insured person should obtain a duplicate copy of the insurance. Because the process for this step is quite simple and straightforward, a duplicate copy can be easily arranged. Certain documents should be provided to the insurer in order for the duplicate copy to be obtained. The word 'Duplicate' would appear prominently on the document. Check the details of the duplicate document and notify your insurer immediately if there is a discrepancy.