Processing An Insurance Claim

Improper processing of a life insurance claim will affect the amount of time that it takes for you or your family to receive the funds that you’re entitled to. This can cause a bad situation as you may not be able to pay for a proper funeral or burial without this money. If you understand the process then you may not only be able to secure the money faster but you may be able to negotiate various arrangements for the payment of the money if you need to.

The first step is to contact the insurance company and inform them of the death of the individual. This doesn’t have to be done right away but if you don’t contact the company you won’t be able to get the process started and you will just delay receiving the funds. Within the first 24 hours of death is when you should try to contact the agent at the life insurance company. You may be unsure if the person has a life insurance policy. If this is the case then you should as other family members and the person that is in charge of the affair. In some cases no one may know if the person had a life insurance policy. If this is the case then you will have to try to call local life insurance companies and ask if they have that person on file.

Once the agent’s been notified of the death they will have paperwork that has to be filled out before they can release the funds. The beneficiary can but doesn’t have to fill out the paperwork. However the beneficiary will need to go to the life insurance company to not only validate the claim but to be able to receive any initial funds that are released.

The next step is for you to collect the certificate of death. You may be able to get this directly from the funeral director. If you are unable to get it from the funeral director then you will have to go to the coroner’s office to get it. The first thing you should do upon getting the death certificate is to make copies of it. You will need to send these copies out to the insurance company. Be sure to create enough copies of the death certificate in case the person had multiple life insurance plans. Each company will need to have at least one copy of the certificate. Be sure not to send out the original document to the insurance company unless they need it for a special situation. In most cases your copy will be acceptable for the insurance policy.

You will then want to ask the life insurance company how the payment is going to be made. Each policy is different. Some policies will have a lump sum payment while others will be set up to distribute the money in payments. While this may be more convenient for the company it may hurt your ability to pay for the funeral. Most funerals are held within a week of the person’s passing. If the insurance company has not given the money from the plan before then you should get in contact with them and find out the status of the account.

Graham McKenzie is the syndication coordinator a leading South African Insurance information portal, which amongst others specialises in Household Insurance .