When Life's Candle Extinguishes

While life insurance sector is doing extremely well, there is a lack of awareness in death claims

- Nirmala Konjengbam

Our family’s future tops our concern list. Unforeseen events will never arrive with prior notice. Therefore, it is best that we do the needful to secure our dear ones from financial troubles. Having said that, the question might naturally arise, how can their future be secured given the vast array of investment plans available? The answer is simple. Over time, life insurance has emerged as one of the most popular options to help us in achieving financial security for a family in the event of any unfortunate death or critical illness. And, depending on the requirements, one can choose from a wide range of life insurance product to provide adequate financial protection to their family in case of any eventuality.

The common type of claims in life insurance is maturity or survival benefit claim and death claim. A survival claim can also be described as benefit derived by the insured at the time of completion of policy tenure. In case of money back policies, the insured also receives a certain pre-determined amount at regular intervals during the tenure of the policy. A survival or maturity claim can only be claimed if the insured is alive till the end of policy tenure. The claim, which could be a certain percentage of the sum assured, will be paid to the insured after maturity, regardless of the health conditions of the insured. The policy will cease to exist after maturity. Before a policy reaches maturity, the insurance company generally sends notification to the insured along with a discharge voucher two-three months ahead of the date. The notification would also include the amount payable at the time of maturity of the policy.

The insured or policyholder in such a case can sign the discharge voucher and send it to the insurer along with the original policy bond to process the claim.