It is always a wise decision to financially secure oneself to handle the impact of life risk. Life risks are unpredictable and can happen in an instant. To guarantee the financial security of your loved ones, you should invest in life insurance, especially if you are the only earning member of the family.
Your insurer compensates your family in the event of your untimely demise. Now the first step of claiming a compensation from your insurer is to file a claim. However, many get confused by the whole process of filing a claim. Read more to understand on how to easily file a claim against your insurer to claim compensation.
What is life insurance?
A life insurance policy is a type of policy in which the insurer provides financial compensation to the family of the insured. If the policyholder passes away during the term of the policy, the insurer will give a death benefit to the beneficiaries of the policyholder. This death benefit will help the beneficiaries manage the necessary cost of living without the risk of any financial uncertainty.
What is an insurance claim?
When the policyholder, under whose name the policy is registered, passes away during the term of the policy, the family of the policyholder is required to file a claim. A life insurance claim is basically an intimation on behalf of the family of the insured to their insurer. The claim informs the insurer about the demise of the policyholder and the cause. Once the claim has been filed, the insurer will examine the claim, and if the claim is genuine, the insurer will compensate the beneficiaries.
How to file a claim?
Given below are the steps of filing a life insurance claim:
- Inform the insurer
The first step towards filing a claim is to inform the insurer about the policyholder’s demise. The insurer can be informed either through a phone call or via mail. Insurance companies usually have a time frame to categorise the demise of their policyholder. If the policyholder passes away within 2-3 years of purchasing the policy, it is counted as an ‘early death’. On the other hand, if the policyholder passes away after 6-7 years of purchasing the policy, it is not considered as an ‘early death’. This is important because of the contestability period that insurers have. In this period, the insurer could contest the claim on grounds of genuineness.
- Get the claim intimation form
Once the insurer has been informed about demise of the policyholder, the beneficiary has to ask for the claim intimation form. This form is the formal initiation of filing a claim against the insurer. In this form, all the details about the policyholder have to be provided. Next, all the details regarding the demise of the policyholder have to be provided. This is necessary because it is on the basis of this information that insurer will decide whether to accept the claim or not.
- Provide the necessary documents
The insurer provides a list of documents that have to be submitted by the beneficiary at the time of submitting the claim form. These documents are verified by the insurer to make sure the claim filed is genuine and not a false one. Documents required are:
- Original policy
- Identification documents of the policyholder
- Hospital admission form if the insured was admitted in the hospital
- Hospital bills related to the hospitalisation
- Discharge certificate from the proper authority
- Medical certificate mentioning the cause of death
- Death certificate from local authority
- Certificate of cremation/burial
The aforementioned documents are required if the death was a natural one. If the insured passed away in an accident or other causes, additional documents have to be provided. These documents are:
- FIR report from the police
- Post-mortem report
- Wait for the verification process
Based on the information mentioned in the form and the documents provided, the insurer will thoroughly examine the claim. If the information satisfies the conditions of the insurer, the insurer will compensate the beneficiaries. However, if the conditions are not met or, the claim is found to be false, it could get rejected.
This is how you can file a claim against your life insurer. To get more technical information about this process and to know about the types of life insurance policies you can purchase, you can contact your insurance advisor.
Also Read About: 7 Ways Rental Property Can Give You An Edge In The Mortgage Loan Game
