To initiate the life insurance claims process, start by contacting your insurance company’s claims department. You can find contact information for different life insurance companies below.
The insurance company’s claims department will walk you through the next steps and send you documents to complete.
How to file a claim with popular life insurance companies
See below for contact information and steps to take to file a life insurance claim with popular companies:
Legal & General America
Keep in mind that Legal & General America also does business as Banner Life and William Penn.
How to file a claim: Call 888-585-9198, ext. 6974 or file a claim here.
Brighthouse Financial
How to file the claim:
Life insurance policies ending with BI, BLT, BLW, USU, USV, UT: Call 800-882-1292
Life insurance products ending with US and FM: Call 833-208-3017
Former New England Financial policies: Call 800-388-4000
Corebridge Financial (formerly AIG Life & Retirement)
How to file the claim: Call 844-452-3832 or file a claim online here.
Everly (formerly Settlers Life)
How to file a claim: Call 800-542-8711 and press option 1.
Foresters
How to file a claim: Call 800- 828-1540 or file a claim online here.
Haven Life
How to file a claim: Call 855-744-2836
John Hancock
How to file the claim: Call 888-887-2739 or file a claim online here.
Lincoln Financial
How to file the claim: Call 800-487-1485, option 4 or file a claim online here.
Mutual of Omaha
How to file the claim: Call 888-493-6902 or 800-775-1000.
Pacific Life
How to file the claim:
Prime policy — call 800-347-7787, option 1 then 2.
Promise policy — call 844-276-5759, option 4
Principal
How to file the claim: Call 800-331-2213.
Protective
How to file the claim: Call 800-866-9933 or file a claim online here.
Once your claim is initiated, you can follow up here.
Prudential
How to file the claim: Call 800-496-1035 or file a claim online here.
SBLI
How to file the claim: Call 800-694-7254 or file a claim online here.
Symetra
How to file the claim: Call 800-796-3872.
Transamerica
How to file the claim: Call 800-238-4310, option 2 or file a claim online here.
What if I don't have a copy of the life insurance policy?
If you don’t have a copy of the policy or don’t know the policy number, you can still prove you’re the beneficiary of the life insurance policy by providing the name, Social Security number, and birth date of the deceased to the life insurance company.
If you’re unsure which insurance company issued the life insurance policy, there are a few tools you can use to help figure it out:
The National Association of Insurance Commissioners’ Life Insurance Policy Locator Service helps people track down life insurance policies.
You can plug in the deceased’s information into your state’s Department of Insurance (DOI) website.
Unclaimed.org or MissingMoney.com can help you narrow down who owes you funds.
What documents are required to file a life insurance claim?
All life insurance companies are going to require you to fill out a specific claim form, but you may also need to submit a death certificate or HIPAA Authorization form — it varies by insurer.
If you don’t have a copy of the supplemental materials that the life insurance company is asking for, the company’s life insurance representative will work with you to figure out what else you can provide to receive the death benefit. Depending on the insurance company, you may receive the necessary paperwork by mail or email.
How will I receive the death benefit?
You can choose to receive the death benefit in one lump sum or in installments, which will be referred to as an “annuity” on life insurance forms. If you choose to receive the death benefit in one lump sum, you’ll get the entire death benefit at one time, whereas a death benefit paid out in installments will be paid out over time, until the money runs out.
Lump sum death benefits are paid out free of any income tax and are usually the recommended method of receiving the life insurance payout. If possible, work with a financial advisor to figure out the best option for you.
How long does it take to receive the death benefit?
After you completed the necessary paperwork and filed the life insurance claim, you may receive the death benefit in as few as five days or as many as 45 days.
Though rare, there are cases where the life insurance company may need to review additional information to accept your claim. The timeline to receive the death benefit can be longer if the insurer requires any supplemental documentation, or if an investigation or additional medical records are needed. If this is the case, they’ll let you know what they might need from you.
How will the insurer pay out the death benefit money?
There a few different ways that life insurance companies might pay out the death benefit:
A deposit into a checking or savings account
A check
A checkbook from the life insurance company that can be used for expenses
Most of the time, how you receive the death benefit will be at your discretion, but it also depends on the life insurance company. Some life insurance companies may offer all three options, while others may only offer one method of receipt.
