Documents for a Life Insurance Claim

If the life insurance policy holder dies during the term of the life insurance policy the beneficiaries will need to contact the life insurance company for a claim form. The claim form will need to be signed by the life insurance beneficiary or the policy holder’s representative and also be accompanied with an official copy of the death certificate. The death certificate will state the date, location and the cause of the death and has to be signed by a doctor and usually will have with it a certificate from the coroner confirming the findings. Due to the recent events with Harold Shipman who falsified numerous death certificates, all death certificates now need to be also checked and signed by an independent medical examiner. Life insurance policies may have clauses that were agreed to at the time of taking out the policy that will stipulate any types of death that are not covered. Some life insurance policies may not pay out for accidental death or for instance death from a viral disease such as HIV. There may also be some stipulations which are similar to other types of insurance such as house insurance, which do not cover unforeseeable events such as war or natural disaster. All of these eventualities need to be considered when taking out a life insurance policy and obviously the more possibilities that are covered, the premiums will reflect the extra cover.