Make a claim

Should there be a death in the family, and you know that there is a relevant life insurance in place, you should be provided with cash immediately to meet your pressing needs. However, you can't get access to the funds without filing a claim. With the amount of money involved, you need to follow certain guidelines to make sure the claim is filed properly.

Firstly, you should call the agent or broker that helped with the application for the insurance policy in the first place. The life insurance agent can help you with the details of how to fill out the claims form. The agent should also act as an intermediary with the insurance company to help move the claim along.

If you have the paperwork to hand, but you do not know who the deceased's agent was, you should deal with the life insurance company directly. This is as simple as calling or writing to their nearest office to you and asking what procedure should be followed. One of the things you may have to do is to secure some certified copies of the death certificate from the funeral director. You'll need a certificate for each life insurance claim. You should submit the death certificate along with your claim form and the policy itself.

Should you have no information at all relating to the claim, don't know the name of the company, and don't know who the deceased's agent is, you can still write to the missing policy service, including a self-addressed business size envelope. This inquiry would be passed to about 100 of the largest life insurance companies to try and locate your lost policy. You will be charged a nominal fee for this service to cover administration costs.

You should receive a settlement in fairly short order once you have submitted the claim. This could be in many forms, depending on your choice or that of the original policyholder.

Download the Life Insurance PDF Guide here - see our other free PDF guides here

Guide Contents

What is life insurance?
The different types of life insurance cover
Term insurance
Whole life insurance
Shopping around for life insurance UK
Apply for life insurance
Make a claim
Life insurance FAQ
Where to get more life insurance help

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