Insurance Policy

A life insurance policy provides the designated beneficiary some financial support when an insured person dies. A lost life insurance policy may pose some issues which result in the beneficiary not being able to get these benefits.

So how can these issues be prevented?

These issues may be largely prevented if the following is adhered to completely.

A life insurance company must immediately forward a copy of the life insurance policy to the designated beneficiary's address mentioned in the policy. This should be done at the same time it is dispatched to the address of the insured person/policy holder. The insurance company must also dispatch another copy of the policy to the policy owner, if that person is different from the insured person.

These policies must be kept in a safe place by the three persons.

Every month from then onwards, the insurance company needs to send a letter to the current addresses of all the three above persons. In this letter, these three persons would be requested to inform three aspects to the insurance company.

One of these aspects is to inform immediately the change in status of the insured person, the policy owner, and the beneficiary, whether he/she is dead, in each case.

The second aspect is to inform immediately the current address of these three persons, as applicable, if it changes from that given in the insurance policy.

The third aspect is to inform if the policy owner is not in a position to further pay any applicable premiums against the policy.

The copies of replies from all three such persons to the insurance company, as applicable, in each case, need to be sent to the current addresses of the other two persons.

One important aspect that must be noted is that replies need be sent only when any changes are applicable, otherwise not.

The insurance company must on its part, inform any change in its name and address, as and when it occurs due to takeovers, mergers or other reasons to these three persons immediately at the then current addresses of these three persons.

Changes in status and address must be immediately reflected in the insurance company's database as also in the databases of the three above persons.

Any changes in the name of the designated beneficiary, if applicable as per law, must be must be informed immediately by the insurance company to the three above persons. In addition it should also send a copy of the insurance policy to the newly designated beneficiary at his/her address informed to the insurance company by the policy owner.

From then on, the monthly letter from the insurance company would go to the newly designated address in place of the earlier applicable beneficiary's address.

If the above procedure is followed completely, there is no reason that a lost insurance policy will pose any issues for the designated beneficiary to get his/her due benefits.

Insurance Policy |