Death comes uninvited, but when it does, other than being emotionally devastating, it brings along problems. If the deceased had an insurance policy, how do the nominees go about claiming the insurance cover?Life insurance firms hit speed breaker
The first thing to do in such cases is to get hold of the insurance cover. So it makes sense if the nominee has some idea about the financial situation of the policy-holder. If the nominee has the original policy, then the claims process can be hastened. If not, then other details such as name of the policy-holder, policy number or date of issuance of the policy have to be given to the insurance company.
Life insurers – the road ahead
This delays the entire process of claiming the insurance. Hence, it makes sense to keep your nominee aware of the details.
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The next thing is to call the insurance agent. He can help you get the insurance claim from the company. But, if the nominee is not aware who the insurance agent is, then he/she has to approach the insurance company directly and the relevant claims form has to be filled.
In the claims form, the nominee has to specify the date, place and cause of death, along with the details of the insurance policy.
The claims form needs to be accompanied by a set of documents. The most important is the death certificate, issued by the municipality where the person was buried or cremated. This has to be accompanied by a statement by doctor(s) who treated the policy-holder before death.
In case the death is due to an accident, then a first information report (FIR) needs to be filed with the police. A copy of this has to be submitted with the claims form. Along with this a police inquest report, which has the details of the circumstances of the death and a postmortem report (if at all its carried out) needs to be filed. The nominee needs to prove that he/she is the nominee mentioned in the policy. In this case, a copy of any photo identity card will suffice.
There is no time limitation within which the claim needs to be filed. The only thing that the nominee needs to prove is that the policy was in force when the policy-holder died.
What happens if the policy has lapsed, that is, the policy holder has not paid the premiums. In case of a term insurance, the insurance company does not process the claim. But in case of other kinds of insurance policies a lenient view is taken.
If the policy-holder has paid insurance premiums for three consecutive years and hasn’t paid thereafter, a lenient view is taken. After deducting the premium due and other charges, the proportionate paid-up sum assured is paid.
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Insurance companies allow a grace period of 15 days from the date the premium is due for the payment of premium. In case the policy-holder dies within this period, the policy is still valid and the sum assured is proportionately paid, after deducting the unpaid premium.
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