Often when meeting with clients, they express a desire that their life insurance policies be used to supplement the estate planning documents we provide. Clients use life insurance to provide financial security, liquidity and tax relief for their loved ones. However, we have also found that many times, family members, loved ones or legal representatives do not know where to begin the process of accessing a policyholder’s life insurance information upon their death.
While some insurance companies may contact the beneficiary/beneficiaries once the policyholder has passed, in order to begin the process, often the insurance company is unaware of the passing. If this is the case, the responsibility falls back on the beneficiary to determine if there was a policy and with whom. A great resource for locating a policy, or determining if there was a policy, is the “National Association of Insurance Commissioners’ Life Insurance Locator Service” (Gurley, 1).
Prior to beginning the search for the policy or contacting the insurance company it is best to first obtain an official death certificate for the deceased policyholder. Having the death certificate on hand will ensure a smoother process, because you will need much of the information included on the death certificate in order to file the claim with the insurance company.
In order to proceed with the process of filing a claim you will generally need the following items/information, along with the death certificate:
- The Decedent’s Full Name
- Your Full Name
- Policy #
- Decedent’s Date of Birth
- Decedent’s Date of Death
- Decedent’s Place of Death
- Decedent’s Cause of Death
The insurance company needs all of this information in order to determine if they will approve or deny the claim. The claim review process can take anywhere from thirty to sixty days. If incorrect information is provided this will delay the review process. If the claim is approved the insurance company will often ask the beneficiary to fill out a “request for benefits” form to confirm the way they would like to receive payment.
If you are named as the beneficiary you also have a set of rights in regards to the policy. Beneficiaries have the right to: Know how to file a claim, know the policy amount, know why the claim is denied or delayed, examine documents being used in the claim process and know how to file an appeal.
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Gurley, Drew. “How to File a Life Insurance Claim (2024).” How to File a Life Insurance Claim (2024), MarketWatch – Guides, 28 June 2024, www.marketwatch.com/guides/life-insurance/life-insurance-claim/.
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