Claim Life Insurance Settlements

Category : Insurance

When there is an unforeseen death, there are a few things that need to be done prior to claiming the life insurance settlements. This is important to be aware of as you may not have much time before you need the money in order to handle accommodations.

There can be variances on the terms of the payout and the specific requirements for making the life insurance claim so it is best to have an understanding of this ahead of time.

Contact the life insurance company or the broker who issued the policy. They can help you to fill out all the necessary paperwork in order to make the claim. It's not necessarily important that this be done by the direct beneficiary of the life insurance settlement, however that person will need to be available to validate the claim and receive issuance of the payment.

Collect the death certificate from the coroner's office or from the funeral director. Submit a copy of the certificate for each life insurance policy you are making a claim for. Do not submit your original or you may need to obtain a new one each time it needs to be provided. Typically copies do not need to be notarized for this purpose, but under special circumstances this may be required.

Talk with the insurance company about the settlement so that you will understand the payout. Some life insurance settlements pay out over a long period of time, while others pay our in a lump sum. These terms can often be altered depending on the need. It's best to make this accommodation as soon as possible.

Once all of the accommodations have been arranged and there is a payout agreement, submit all the forms along with the death certificate to the life insurance company in order to claim the life insurance settlement. In general the payout period should be short as they understand that the money needs to be readily available in order to make accommodations for the deceased.