Licensed Life Agent, Life and Finance/ 50 States, New York
life insurance claims are usually filed by the immediate family members, or benificiaries who are of legal age. When the policy is sold a folder is given along. with papers in order to identify where the policy information is kept. Depending. on the agent and company. Life policies are equivalent to wills are very involved in the estate. If you dealt with a good agent then you would have been assisted with this form of estate planning. The policy is mentioned in the will or there is a known location as to where the policy is kept. The claimants must be the beneficiaries of legal age. If the beneficiaries are under the legal age are named then the probate will handle the claim.until they become legal. It is always best to name a beneficiary of legal age if you have younger children for this reason.. Beneficiaries can be changed anytime during the policy and only by policy owner.
Anyone can request the paperwork for a death claim from a life insurance company, but only the claimant or claimants (beneficiary or beneficiaries) can submit the paperwork to collect the death benefit. If you do not know the current beneficiary for the policy, you can call the life insurance company to find out.
That is a great question! The insurance companies give a little leeway when it comes to filing the claim. They realize that the beneficiary may be grief stricken, and unable to handle the call. So the claim can be filed by almost anyone. Our Funeral home (we've always used the same one) has typically done that for our family as a courtesy. The details of the claim will have to be taken care of by the beneficiary when filling out the paperwork and submitting it. Thank you for asking!
President, The Firm of Steven H. Kobrin, LUTCF, 6-05 Saddle River Rd #103, Fair Lawn, NJ 07410
I actually just did this for a client. I had sold a gentleman a policy a number of years ago. He unfortunately got sick, and eventually passed. His wife called me up and wanted to know what to do.
I called the carrier on her behalf and initiated the claim. The first thing the claims representative did was stop the automatic drafts of the premium from their checking account. That is a good move. Even amidst their grief, spouses in mourning still don’t want to waste any money. They want the benefit.
Towards that end, the claims rep then mailed the widow her claims kit. She, as the beneficiary, must file the claim. If for some reason she had been in capable of doing so, then a custodian or other appointed person would do it on her behalf.
It took about a week, and she did get the kit. It was pretty simple. Obviously, a copy of the death certificate would have to be filed with the paperwork. Funeral homes are typically on top of this. They often encourage the grieving survivors to purchase a number of copies. They know that all sorts of institutions require it when settling that the estate of the deceased.
I have found my involvement in expediting life insurance claims for clients to be some of the most powerful emotional experiences of my life. One in particular stands out. I had sold policies to a young couple. A number of years afterward, she became tragically distraught and overwhelmed. She committed suicide.
These folks were my friends, and this made it double-hard to get involved. Her husband was so upset he couldn’t even complete the claim form. I had to do so for him and just prepare it for his signature.
Whew.
I could tell you more stories like this. But such is the life of a life insurance salesman.
Brokers do not have to be the ones to expedite the claims. Any friend or family member could do it. They can order the paperwork, and holds the beneficiary’s hand during the process. But the beneficiary has to be the one to file the claim.
Nobody likes to go through this. But, that is why you buy the policy.
Want to keep learning? Check out my blog:
Planrisklive.com
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I called the carrier on her behalf and initiated the claim. The first thing the claims representative did was stop the automatic drafts of the premium from their checking account. That is a good move. Even amidst their grief, spouses in mourning still don’t want to waste any money. They want the benefit.
Towards that end, the claims rep then mailed the widow her claims kit. She, as the beneficiary, must file the claim. If for some reason she had been in capable of doing so, then a custodian or other appointed person would do it on her behalf.
It took about a week, and she did get the kit. It was pretty simple. Obviously, a copy of the death certificate would have to be filed with the paperwork. Funeral homes are typically on top of this. They often encourage the grieving survivors to purchase a number of copies. They know that all sorts of institutions require it when settling that the estate of the deceased.
I have found my involvement in expediting life insurance claims for clients to be some of the most powerful emotional experiences of my life. One in particular stands out. I had sold policies to a young couple. A number of years afterward, she became tragically distraught and overwhelmed. She committed suicide.
These folks were my friends, and this made it double-hard to get involved. Her husband was so upset he couldn’t even complete the claim form. I had to do so for him and just prepare it for his signature.
Whew.
I could tell you more stories like this. But such is the life of a life insurance salesman.
Brokers do not have to be the ones to expedite the claims. Any friend or family member could do it. They can order the paperwork, and holds the beneficiary’s hand during the process. But the beneficiary has to be the one to file the claim.
Nobody likes to go through this. But, that is why you buy the policy.
Want to keep learning? Check out my blog:
Planrisklive.com