After a loved one has passed away, you will be faced with the unpleasant task of filing a life insurance claim. You may soon find out how difficult the process of obtaining your life insurance proceeds really is. It should take about a week or two to receive your money. If the claim is delayed, there is usually a problem. Read about life insurance claim denials
If you have the policy stashed away somewhere, get it out, as it will have the name of the insurance company, the policy number and the phone number to call. It will become an invaluable resource in the life insurance claims process.
You can either call your insurance agent who can help you fill out the forms and assist you with the life insurance company, or if you don't have the agent's information, you can call the life insurance company directly.
If you don't know the name of the life insurance company, you will have to do some detective work and go through the deceased's checkbook and personal business records to find out this information.
If the life insurance policy was obtained through the deceased's employer, you would want to call them to get the policy information.
Locate the death certificate, as this will need to be submitted to the life insurance company with the life insurance claim form.
Once the claim is submitted, you should receive the money in a week or two unless there is a problem. If it turns out to be longer, there is a good chance something is wrong, and you will want to retain a life insurance lawyer before the claim gets denied.