Term Insurance Claim Settlement Ratio

Term insurance claim settlement is a process where a beneficiary registers a claim to the insurance company in order to avail death benefits available in case of unfortunate death of the life assured or maturity benefits in case of survival of the life assured till the end of the policy term.

Here is the list of claim settlement ratio of the best term insurance companies in India:

Term Insurance Company	Claim Settlement Ratio 2019-20	No. of Claims Paid 2019-20
Max Life Insurance	99.22%	15342
HDFC Life Insurance	99.07%	12509
Tata AIA Life Insurance	99.06%	2954
Dhfl Pramerica Life Insurance	98.42%	560
Exide Life Insurance	98.15%	3404
Reliance Life Insurance	98.14%	7866
Canara Hsbc Life Insurance	98.12%	1252
Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance	98.02%	11887
Aegon Life Insurance	98.01%	344
ICICI Prudential Life Insurance	97.84%	11212
Aditya Birla Sun Life Insurance	97.54%	5035
Aviva India Life Insurance	97.53%	790
Bharti Axa Life Insurance	97.35%	1285
PNB MetLife Insurance	97.18%	4241
Daiichi Life Insurance	96.96%	1210
Life Insurance Corporation India (LIC)	96.69%	733809
Indiafirst Life Insurance	96.65%	2166
IDBI Federal Life Insurance	96.47%	1366
Kotak Life Insurance	96.38%	3225
Future Generali Life Insurance	95.28%	1089
SBI Life Insurance	94.52%	21257
Shriram Life Insurance	91.61%	2816
Sahara India Life Insurance	89.54%	585
Edelweiss Tokio Life Insurance	83.44%	272

(Source: IRDAI Annual Report - Claim Settlement Ratio for the year 2019-20)

Types of Term Insurance Claims

Term Insurance provides a life cover to policyholders in case of their nature as well as unnatural death. Given below are different types of the term insurance claims:

1. Maturity Claim: A maturity claim is a type of claim that is paid at the time of the maturity period of the term insurance plan. Under this segment of claim, a certain amount is paid to the policyholder, if he or she services till the completion of the policy. The maturity claim is paid only on timely payment of premiums. To receive this claim, policyholders are required to fill and submit a duly signed discharge form. Also, this maturity claim amount is tax-free as per the Income Tax Act.

2. Death Claim: A death claim is a type of claim where the claimant raises the request for death benefits in the case of the policyholder's demise. In such situations, the sum assured amount specified in the policy is paid to the nominee upon the death of the policyholder. To get the claim amount, the insurance company needs to be conveyed about the death of the policyholder which may include term insurance policy number, date of death, reason of death, and the policy tenure till when the insurer is liable to compensate. The death claim amount is also tax-free as per Section 10(10D) of the Income Tax Act.

3. Rider Claim: Riders are optional benefits that policyholders can opt for at the time of buying a term insurance policy by paying an additional premium cost. With the rider claim, policyholders become eligible to receive compensation for situations other than maturity or death. Some popular term insurance riders are Critical Illness Rider, Accidental Total or Permanent Disability Rider, and Waiver of Premium Rider. The nominee can raise a claim for any of these riders that are bought by the policyholder on his or her behalf.

Documents Required for Term Insurance Claims

To get the term insurance claim amount, some documents are required to be submitted. Here is the list of some documents that are required for term insurance claims:

• Claimant's photo ID proof
• Claimant's address proof
• Original policy documents
• Claim forms (duly signed and attested)
• Death certificate attested by the local authorities
• Copy of FIR or post mortem reports or punchnama
• Medical Records (including hospital discharge summary)
• Copy of canceled cheque/bank statement or bank passbook.

Claim Settlement Process of Term Insurance Policy

In order to get your term insurance policy claim settled, you should follow the below-mentioned process:

Step 1: Claim Intimation: The nominee is needed to convey the insurance company for the claim either online or offline at the earliest. The claim intimation must be supported with policyholder details like policy number, policyholder's name, reason of death, place of death and nominee details. The claimant can either directly visit the insurance company for claim intimation or download the claim forms online from the website.

Step 2: Submission of Documents: The nominee is required to produce all the required and relevant documents to initiate the claim settlement. The insurance company will examine the documents submitted by the claimant and may even ask for additional documents if required. It is mandatory to submit the right documents, otherwise, it may lead to the rejection of a claim request. As documents play a vital role in the claim settlement process, the claimants are advised to go through the terms and conditions to get the information about the required documents for the claim.

Step 3: Claim Settlement: Once the nominee has submitted the documents to the insurance company, the insurer has to settle the claim within 30 days, according to the regulation of the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI). If the investigation of documents and other details requires more time, even then, the insurance company should complete the process within 6 months from the date of getting the intimation of the claim.

Common Reason for Rejection of Term Insurance Claims

Although the process to raise a claim for term insurance plans is quite simple, still, it can be rejected due to some common reasons which are given below:

1. If a policyholder has provided wrong, inaccurate, or false detail or information in the application form of the term insurance policy.

2. If the premiums are not paid by the policyholder on time or the policy is not renewed within the grace period.

3. Reason of death is excluded in the term insurance policy which may be suicide before the first policy term completion, accidental death caused under the influence of alcohol or drugs, or any related substance.

4. A fraudulent claim made by the nominee of the policyholder to gain the claim amount.