Life Insurance Settlements in Canada

Life insurance is there for when the terrible things, the things people don’t want to think about, happen in your life. Your loved one paid premiums on a life insurance policy, probably over many years, so that when he or she was gone you would be taken care of, from the time of the medical, funeral and burial expenses to the point when you are trying to go on with your life. However, many people find it difficult to navigate the correct procedures for filing a life insurance claim and receiving the settlement they are due. This can cause painful delays while you, in your time of loss, struggle to deal with funeral directors, hospitals and others who are demanding to be paid.

The first thing you need to do, if a loved one dies, is to file a claim. If your loved one kept their information in an easily accessible place, such as a clearly marked file, it will not be difficult for you to contact their insurance agent and find out what to do next. They will give you detailed instructions. However, if you can’t find their policy information, and you do not know what company they had a policy with, you can also contact the Missing Policy Service, which can then look up the information about your loved one’s policy. Be aware, there may be a nominal fee for this. The insurance company will send you a claim form that you will have to fill out as completely as possible.

Canadian Life Insurance Quotes

In order for the company to award you your life insurance settlement, they will need to have a certified copy of the death certificate. This can be obtained by your funeral director, who is likely to be very cooperative and helpful in your attempt to secure your settlement, since they often only get paid once that settlement comes to their clients. After you acquire the death certificate, send it, along with the claim form, to the insurance agency.

Once you are able to procure the policy, or policy number, the claim form, and the death certificate, you should receive your settlement fairly quickly. You will then have to decide how you want to receive your payment. In some cases, the person who purchased the policy will have made that decision for you, but sometimes you will be asked to make that decision. Some people choose to leave the settlement in an account where it can accrue interest until you decide to withdraw it.

Many people find the lump sum option appealing, because you can then use it to pay funeral expenses and meet other immediate needs. However, a life insurance settlement also gives you the rare opportunity to invest or save a large sum of money that you might not otherwise be able to come up with. You can also arrange to split your settlement, and have some of it invested, some of it paid in a lump sum, and some of it paid to you in monthly installments.