How to make a life insurance policy claim

Life is uncertain and death is an eventuality no one can escape. However, a life insurance with adequate sum assured can ensure that your dependents and loved ones are taken care of after you are gone. Therefore, making a claim and getting the insurance money is an important part of life insurance.

There are two types of claims—on maturity of the policy and on demise of the policyholder. The maturity claim is made by the policyholder, while the claim on death is done by the nominee or dependents of the policyholder. You can read the detailed process for making claims, in both the cases, on the website of Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (Irdai), at http://bit.ly/2icTfg9 .

Claim on maturity

When a life insurance policy is about to mature, the insurance company usually informs the policyholder at least 2-3 months in advance, giving her details of the date of maturity, maturity amount, along with the discharge voucher—which is like a receipt.

The policyholder has to sign the discharge voucher in the presence of witnesses and send it back to the insurance company along with the original policy bond, to enable it to make the payment. If the policy has been assigned in favour of any other person or entity—like a housing loan company—the claim amount will be paid only to the assignee who will give the discharge.

Claim on death

When a person with a life insurance policy—also called the life assured—dies, a claim intimation should be sent to the insurance company as early as possible. The assignee or nominee under the policy can do this. So can any close relative or the agent who handles the policy.

The claim intimation should contain information like the date, place and cause of death. It is the insurance agent’s duty to help the life assured’s family or the assignee to deal with the insurance company to fulfil the formalities for filing a claim.

The insurance company will respond to this intimation and will also ask for the following documents:

i) Filled-up claim form (provided by the insurer)

ii) Certificate of death

iii) Policy document

iv) Deeds of assignment or re-assignment, if any

v) Legal evidence of title, if the policy is not assigned or nominated

vi) Form of discharge executed and witnessed

vii) KYC (know-your-customer) details of the nominee and the person intimating the death and his/her National Electronic Funds Transfer (NEFT) details for direct credit of the amount.

Once the insurer receives the claim request, it can ask for supplementary documents such as: medical attendant’s certificate, hospital certificate, employer’s certificate, police inquest report, and post mortem report.

Once all the necessary documents have been submitted and the insurer has looked into the veracity of the claim with its due diligence process, the claim would be settled by the insurance company.