Families and survivors often depend on life insurance, or survivor’s benefits after a loved one passes away. These benefits may be necessary to pay for funeral or memorial expenses and may be needed for final medical costs as well as for everyday bills. If the person who has passed away was a breadwinner, life insurance money might be necessary to keep the household moving forward financially.
In most cases, life insurance payouts occur within a few weeks of the life insurance company being notified of the death and receiving a death certificate. That’s not always the case though as insurance companies may decline a claim or not fully pay out the contract. For example, if a death occurs within two years of a new life insurance policy, insurance companies may be likely to review the claim with a closer eye. In this case, it can take a longer time for the evaluation to be complete.
Also, paperwork and the process itself can cause delays. An insurer may claim a beneficiary is not entitled to benefits or that there is no policy covering the death. This may occur if the person who has passed away missed insurance payments.
If you have not been paid survivor’s benefits that a loved one intended you to have, you do need to call a Bashore Green attorney to see what your options are. To limit the challenge of collecting a survivor’s benefit, take these steps when a loved one dies:
- Contact the insurance company as soon as possible. If you know you are a primary beneficiary, let the insurance company know. If you are unsure if you are a beneficiary, contact the insurance company to find out.
- File a death claim with the insurance company and send them an official death certificate. The insurance company will also need to know the number of the life insurance policy. Everyone named as a primary beneficiary will need to file a separate life insurance claim form. If all the people named as primary beneficiaries in the insurance policy have already died, then everyone named as a secondary beneficiary will need to provide evidence of the policyholder’s death and file a death benefits claim.
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