How to File for Claim Settlement after Losing your Documents?

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Filing a life insurance claim is a simple process if you have all the relevant documents in your possession. In this case, all you have to do is contact the company about the claim and submit the necessary document proofs. However, the process gets much harder if you don’t have any of the relevant documents in your possession. During natural calamities and other related circumstances, documents and identity proofs get damaged or misplaced quite often. Insurance companies allow customers to get their claim amount even during these situations.

Claim intimation

Before you proceed with the submission of relevant documents, you need to intimate the company regarding the claim. In case of life insurance claims, the company must be intimated immediately following the death of the insured. Even if you have lost all your documents due to a natural calamity, you may still access your basic policy details with the help of your PAN, date of birth, Aadhar number, etc. You need to contact the customer service department of the insurer in order to get your policy details.

Most companies now provide online services for their customers. If you have purchased an online policy, your policy details will be there in your account. You need to simply login into your account and file the claim intimation to the insurer. You may also get all the relevant policy details associated with making the claim. Even if you have an offline policy, the insurer will have the information about your policy in the official database. This can be accessed by insurance company officials from their accounts. Hence, you may also visit the branch office of the insurer to know your policy details before filing the claim intimation.

Documents required for death claims

When you are filing a death claim, it is necessary to submit the following list of documents to the company along with the claim form:

• Original policy document
• Death certificate
• Identity proof of the beneficiary
• Medical certificate (if necessary)
• Police FIR (in case of unnatural death)
• Post-mortem report (in case of unnatural death)

Most of the documents listed here must be collected after the death of the insured person. Insurance companies typically provide some time for the submission of documents. Policyholders can use this time to collect all these documents. The beneficiary must provide at least one identity proof while filing for a claim. If they have lost their identity cards, they may use this time to get a duplicate ID from the concerned office.

Some of the identity proofs are very easy to obtain. For instance, you can download your Aadhar card directly from the UIDAI portal simply by entering your Aadhar number. It will be helpful if you have stored the soft copies of your identity proofs on a cloud drive which can be accessed easily with the help of your mail ID. Once you have collected a government-approved document, you can use this document as a proof to collect other proofs.

Police complaint for missing documents

If you have misplaced your documents, you may also file a complaint with the police and give an advertisement in a newspaper. An official complaint must be filed before you apply for a duplicate policy document from the company. This is necessary only if the documents are stolen or misplaced. If the documents are destroyed due to floods or fire, you may check with the insurer on the alternate procedure for this situation.

Indemnity bond for loss of policy document

If you have lost your original policy document, you may check with the company to obtain the indemnity bond of your policy document. The format of the indemnity bond can be downloaded from the life insurer’s official website. To get the indemnity bond of your life insurance policy, you may have to pay the stamp fees and the notary fees. The company may also charge some additional fee for the issuance of a duplicate certificate. If you are not sure about the process, you may check with the customer care department of your insurer and enquire about the process of obtaining the certificate.

Conclusion

Insurance companies require the submission of all the relevant documents while making a claim. However, if you have lost these documents, it does not mean the end of the world. As per the law, insurance companies have to honour all the relevant claims. Most companies have made the process extremely easy for customers to get the settlement amount. If you have lost your documents due to some unforeseen circumstance, you may follow the alternate steps given above and get the settlement amount in a timely manner.