Steps to Writing a Life Insurance Claim Letter (Sample Included)

Andre Bradley reports:

"When a loved one passes or dear friend passes, if you are the beneficiary to their life insurance policy, you will need to retrieve the money bequeathed to you. Not everyone is fortune enough to have such a policy, but those who do have a specific method the money must be requested. The easiest way to contact a life insurance company is to put it in writing. Sure they have 1-800 numbers and also websites, but many feel that mailing a claim letter is the best way to contact these types of agencies. Often being on the phone leads to several transfers and getting the [runaround]. A Life Insurance Claim Letter will prevent you from having to make direct contact with a rep from the company. This letter is easy to write and will not take too much time...After the passing of a friend or loved one, the life insurance policy becomes payable to the beneficiaries who[m] the insured listed. If there are several beneficiaries, it goes by the list of importance, or who is listed first. Because of the significance of this letter, gathering information is one of the most important steps to writing. Review the policy and make sure to get information like the policy number and the address of where to send correspondence. This should be clearly identified within the policy itself. This letter can be worth thousands of dollars to you, so making sure every detail is correct and that there are no mistakes is important...Once all the information is gathered, prepare a rough draft copy. This should always be a typed letter so there is no risk of someone not being able to read handwriting. The letter should begin with the date and standard block format is acceptable. Make sure to clearly display the return address of the beneficiary and also the address of the life insurance company. If there is an agent or direct contact person, put that in too. More often than not, there will not be a contact person and a generic, 'To Whom It May Concern' will have to be the salutation...The most important part of this entire letter is the policy number and the insured’s name. Make sure this is clearly identifiable in the letter. They also need to know where the payment needs to be sent. They are going to want some sort of documentation to verify. While the life insurance company will do their own investigating, including a copy of the death certificate in the letter[,] doesn’t hurt. Any other correspondence, like obituaries and other documents[,] are also helpful. Give contact information and how they can reach you with any questions. Each life insurance claim letter will have different aspects about it depending on the situation, but they all need to do the same thing, [which is to] request a payout. If you are the beneficiary, make sure to read through the policy and familiarize yourself with the payouts and how this insurance company handles them. Should any correspondence back and forth take place, it helps to be informed."