Description
Sample Letter to Insurance Company for a Death Claim
A letter to life insurance company for claim is essential because there are no death benefits automatically paid out by life insurance policies.
Beneficiaries must file a claim first. This may be done online or by filing a paper claim depending on the insurance company’s policies. To process your claim and get paid, the insurance company usually requires paperwork and supporting evidence.
Additionally, a certified copy of the death certificate must be submitted, through the county or through the hospital or nursing home where the insured died. A claim is usually paid within 30 to 60 days of the date it is made.
How Do You File a Life Insurance Claim?
To file a life insurance claim you must first contact the insurance company about the death. You can then file a claim either online or via the mail, depending on your specific policy.
No matter how you file the company will require official paperwork and evidence. This all has to happen before you can get paid as the beneficiary. Having a copy of the life insurance policy will be helpful and sometimes required when filing a claim.
A certified copy of the death certificate is also necessary. You can get this through the place where the insured died. Many states allow the insurance companies 30 days to review all of the paperwork and evidence submitted in the claim before they make a decision on payout, denial, or ask for more evidence if things aren’t clear.
How Long After Someone Dies Can You Claim Life Insurance?
There are no set laws about when you are required to file a life insurance claim, but the sooner you do so, the better. So no need to worry about filing too late.
There are a number of reasons that people delay filing a claim. In some cases, a person may not even know that they are the beneficiary of a loved one’s life insurance policy. As long as everything was up to date on the account at the time of death, then you will get the payout from your claim.
To avoid any delays on the payout be sure to file as soon as you know that you are the beneficiary of the policy and have gathered all of the necessary documentation.
How Do You Get Life Insurance Money After a Death?
There are a few options for payout on a life insurance policy once your claim has been approved. The default option on accounts is a lump sum payment. Which is when you get the whole amount in one big payment. In these cases you may be able to use that money for something that you would not otherwise be able to purchase if you were given the payments over time.
Another way to get the payout is in installments or annuities. This gives the policy owner the opportunity to choose a specific income over a period of time. This is typically between 5 and 40 years. This option may not be the best choice for all beneficiaries. One reason it may not be the best choice is the health of the beneficiary. If they are unwell and don’t intend to live to the end of the set amount of time, a lump sum payment may be the best fit.
The last payout option is a retained access account. This is when the insurance company acts like a bank. They keep all the money in one account where you can write checks from that money. You wouldn’t be able to make deposits but as the beneficiary you would still collect the interest.
How do Life Insurance Companies Investigate Claims?
When a life insurance company investigates a claim, it is a very exhaustive and thorough process. This can typically happen when the death is less than 2 years after the policy was opened.
When a life insurance policy is opened, the owner must fill out an extensive application. Answering a variety of health and history questions. The investigation looks back at this information and checks the validity of the information provided in the claim against this application.
Insurers cannot extend the time to investigate a life insurance claim beyond what is necessary to obtain the relevant information and make a decision within 30 days.
What Reasons Will Life Insurance Not Pay?
There are a few reasons that an insurance company would not payout on your policy. One of these being if you lied in any part of the process. Committing life insurance fraud or not giving all the details could allow the company to not pay. Risky hobbies could also be a reason to deny payout. If the beneficiary of the policy murders the owner in hopes of getting some money, they will be denied. In this case the policy payout would go to the contingent beneficiary. While suicide is typically covered in a life insurance policy there is a clause that this is not the case if the suicide happens within two years of opening the policy.