Life Insurance Claims Related FAQs

Ideally, in case of the policyholder’s death, you should lodge a claim with the insurer as soon as possible. It is not a good idea to wait long before making a claim. That would only delay the disbursal of the death benefit.

That depends on the nature of the claim raised. For maturity claims, the policyholders themselves will receive the benefits. For death claims, on the other hand, the nominees, beneficiaries, or the legal heirs of the policyholder will receive the benefits instead.

If you are the nominee, beneficiary, or the legal heir of the policyholder, you should first intimate the insurance service provider of the policyholder’s demise. Along with this, you will need to provide some other information such as the cause, place, and date of death.

After the intimation is given, you should file the following documents with the insurer to lodge a death benefit claim.

• A duly-filled claim form



• A copy of the death certificate



• The original policy document



• Proof of relationship with the deceased



• An executed form of discharge


Once all of these documents are filed, the insurer will process the claim, and if found to be sufficient and proper, they will disburse the death benefit.

If your policy offers maturity benefits, you need to make a maturity claim when you survive the policy term. The process for making a maturity claim is extremely easy. When a policy is about to mature, the insurer will automatically intimate you of the impending maturity date. A discharge form is also usually sent across to make the process smoother for you.

All you need to do is sign the discharge form, have your signature witnessed, and send it across to your insurer along with the original policy document. Once the insurance service provider receives the form and the policy document, your claim will be processed and the maturity benefit will be credited to you.

You can submit the duly-filled claim forms along with all the necessary supporting documents at any physical branch of your insurance service provider. Alternatively, if you prefer to not make a physical visit and if your insurer offers online services, you could also directly email the documents to the claims section of your insurance service provider.

If you haven’t appointed a nominee at the time of policy purchase, we highly recommended that you appoint one as soon as possible. You only need to submit a duly-filled nomination form with your insurer. Having a nominee can make the death claim process extremely easy and hassle-free for your family.

In case there’s no nominee and the policyholder expires, the family members or the legal heirs of the policyholder can lodge a death claim with the insurer. However, in addition to all the other above-mentioned documents, the claimants may also need to submit a ‘succession certificate’ that provides for policy benefits disbursement. Alternatively, if the policyholder had left behind a will, then a copy of the same would also have to be submitted by the claimants.

In this unfortunate case, you would have to intimate your insurer and appoint a different nominee. You can do this by submitting a nomination form again.

The time taken for approval of an insurance claim tends to vary from one insurer to the other. That said, there are regulations in place that state that a claim, if found to be valid, has to be settled within 30 days from the date of filing the said claim. However, the time to settle a claim may be extended to 120 days if the insurer needs any further clarifications or verifications.

By the way, Aditya Birla Sun Life Insurance has a claim settlement ratio of 98.04%1 for the period FY 20-21 with an average claim settlement turn-around time of 2.4 days from receipt of all requirements.