Life insurance claims
When someone dies with a life policy in their name, the family's questions can be taken in order: how to claim, how long the insurer can take, why it is investigating, who is entitled to the money, and what to do if the claim is refused. The pages here take them one at a time, in plain words, and point to the rule or the policy clause behind each answer.
Two rules frame every death claim. Under IRDAI's 2024 master circular, a claim that needs no investigation should be settled within 15 days of intimation, and one that does within 45 days. And once three years have passed from the latest of the policy's issue, risk-start, revival or rider date, IRDAI's circular says the policy cannot be contested on any ground. How that rule works explains the detail.[1]
Start here
- How to file a life insurance death claim: steps and documentsFiling a death claim with a life insurer in India: how to intimate it, which documents to send, what changes for early claims, and how long settlement can take.
- Life insurance claim delayed — how long can the insurer take to pay?IRDAI's settlement timelines for life insurance death, surrender, maturity and survival claims, the interest owed when an insurer is late, and how to raise it.
- Life insurance death claim rejected — what can the nominee do?Death claim repudiated? How the nominee checks the ground and the Section 45 dates, writes to the insurer, and when the Insurance Ombudsman can help.
Questions people ask
- No nominee, or the nominee has died — how is a life insurance claim paid?What happens to a life claim when no nominee was named or every nominee has died: who is paid under Section 39, and the proof of title to ask the insurer about.
- The policyholder is missing — can the family make a life insurance claim?What a family can do when a life policyholder is missing: the seven-year rule of evidence, keeping the policy in force, and what to ask the insurer in writing.
- The policy had lapsed when the policyholder died — is anything payable?Policy lapsed before the death? Check the grace period, paid-up value and revival dates against IRDAI's rules before accepting a 'lapsed' rejection.
- Accidental death benefit rejected — the insurer says it wasn't an accidentBase life claim paid but the accidental death benefit refused? How to read the rider's definition of accident and its exclusions, and what evidence to gather.
Step-by-step guides
Explained
- Death claim rejected for 'suppression of material facts' — what Section 45 of the Insurance Act saysHow Section 45 of the Insurance Act limits a life insurer's right to reject a death claim for non-disclosure: the three-year bar, fraud, materiality, refunds.
- Why insurers investigate death claims in the first years of a policyWhy a life insurer investigates a death claim in a policy's first three years, how long IRDAI's timeline allows, and what the family can do meanwhile.
- Nominee vs legal heir: who gets the life insurance money?How Section 39 of the Insurance Act decides whom the insurer pays and who keeps the money: nominees, legal heirs, assignment and MWP policies.
Free tools
Sources
The official documents this page relies on. Rules change: where it matters to your claim, check the current version at the source.
1. IRDAI (scanned copy of the circular, hosted by caalley.com)
Master Circular on Protection of Policyholders' Interests, 2024 – Ref IRDAI/PP&GR/CIR/MISC/117/9/2024 dated 5 September 2024 (full scanned text with IRDAI letterhead; OCR text layer)Dated 2024-09-05 · Accessed 2026-10-09 · Cited at: IRDAI Master Circular on Protection of Policyholders' Interests (IRDAI/PP&GR/CIR/MISC/117/9/2024, 5 Sep 2024), Section 1, Part A (Life), V.2 table row 1, printed page 15; IRDAI Master Circular on Protection of Policyholders' Interests (IRDAI/PP&GR/CIR/MISC/117/9/2024, 5 Sep 2024), Section 1, Part A (Life), V.2 table row 2, printed page 15; IRDAI Master Circular on Protection of Policyholders' Interests (IRDAI/PP&GR/CIR/MISC/117/9/2024, 5 Sep 2024), Section 1, Part A (Life), IV.6 'Policy cannot be contested', printed page 14; IRDAI Master Circular on Protection of Policyholders' Interests (IRDAI/PP&GR/CIR/MISC/117/9/2024, 5 Sep 2024), Section 1, Part A (Life), V.2 para 3(ii), printed page 16
Read from a copy hosted at caalley.com · Official page
ClaimAssure is an independent private platform. It is not an insurer, IRDAI, Bima Bharosa or the Insurance Ombudsman, it never files anything on your behalf, and it cannot promise any outcome. What it does is read your documents and show you what they say.