It is hard to file a life insurance claim for a missing loved one. For instance, your Dad went missing for a couple of months. You have done everything you could but you had no luck in finding your dad. It can be hard to move forward in that kind of situation. Still, Life Insurance can help you with specific aspects, particularly financial ones. I know it is heartbreaking to file a claim for missing because you’re hoping that person is still alive. However, here are the ways that you can do in filing for a missing person’s life insurance claim.
If a person goes missing, the beneficiaries can file a claim for life insurance as follows:
The first thing you should do is to file an FIR (First Information Report). The beneficiary of any other person who was not in contact with the policyholder must file a missing report to the police immediately. Secondly, If a person cannot be traced seven years after being reported missing, the police will collect a non-traceable report. After that, the report is presented to the court to acquire a court order assuming the insured individual is deceased. And lastly,The beneficiary should contact the insurance provider with the court’s declaration after receiving the requisite confirmation from the court, i.e., the death certificate. The insurance company will be required to pay out the promised death benefit proceeds under the rebuttable presumption of death. Presumptions of death can be made seven years after the FIR is filed, according to Section 108 of the Indian Evidence Act (First Information Report). The family of a missing person must wait seven years for the insurance company to pay out the money from the missing individual’s life insurance policy.
(Note: After a person goes missing, family members can continue paying the premium and keep the policy active if insurers accept the payments; otherwise, the policy, particularly a term plan, may lapse.)
Insurance companies have seven (7) years to resolve a claim:
In some unusual cases, insurers may waive the seven-year rule and pay the insurance claim sum to the beneficiary sooner. There are some exceptions, such as when people go missing as a result of natural disasters, airline crashes, or terrorist attacks. The government issues a list of missing people thought dead in such circumstances. The majority of insurers take this list into account while processing claims.
