Thus, it comes in most handy in case of the death of the life insured, where the money is required by the family to run daily expenses. Maturity and survival claims are anticipated money and the expenditure can be planned well in advance as their time is known. Death Claim amount cannot be planned as the time of death of the Life Insured is not known ahead of time. Thus an individual Life Insurance Policy is mainly taken for protection purposes and thus Death Claim information becomes of utmost importance.

The 5 MUST KNOW things about getting an Insurance Death Claim can be jotted down as:

1. Notify insurer
2. Contact Agent
3. Nominee
4. Documents
5. Bank Account

1. After recovering from the initial shock from the death of the life insured, the Insurance Company needs to be notified soon for the claim. Delay may lead to unnecessary complications!

This is because, a lot of people are either not aware of life insured's insurance policy or they are ignorant about intimating the Insurer or a delay happens due to some other unforeseen reasons. But whatever the reason may be, a delay will certainly complicate issues as more inquiry may arise.

2. Contact the agent, who will assist in getting the claim. Collect the death claim form.
An agent's key responsibility is to assist the policyholder in getting the claim. Since he is the one who had initiated the policy documents, he would be the best person to get the claim out most effectively and efficiently. Thus, the agent needs to be contacted who had taken the policy for the life insured.

In case, the agent is not known or not contactable, then the Insurer's office needs to be contacted.

3. Who is the nominee and/or who are the legal heirs? Who is the actual owner of the policy money?
The nominee is the person who needs to fill up the details and submit the claim discharge form for initiating the process of getting the death claim. Hence knowing who the nominee is, if mentioned in the policy form or who the legal heir, the rightful owner of the policy money is; becomes of prime importance.

4. Documentation needs to be in order for a speedy claim discharge. If all documents are in order and the claim discharge form has been duly filled by the nominee, the claim process is automatically speeded.
The minimum necessary documents for filling an Insurance Death Claim are:
a. Original death certificate is mandatory for any death claim.
b. Policy document/ last premium receipt- proof that the policy is in force
c. Beneficiary's identity and age proof

5. Bank Account of the nominee needs to be ready to receive the claim. Name and address should be the same as mentioned on the insurance policy so that no delay happens in the process of rejection or correction of the claim cheque issued by the insurer!
If all the above procedures are followed correctly, there is no reason in a delay happening in getting an Insurance Claim. Usually it is a very speedy process as even the insurer is aware that the family needs the money and they would not delay the process unless there is a definite requirement of the same. By following these simple steps, you can surely expedite the process.

Written By: Deepak Yohannan
The author is the CEO of MyInsuranceClub.com, an online insurance price & features comparison portal

For more articles by Deepak Yohannan, please visit MyInsuranceClub.com
You may write to the author at [email protected]

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