My father passed away last month. He had bought an LIC policy of Rs 50 lakh. When we called the agent's number we found among his papers, we found he is not working with the company. Now, who will help us get the claim money?  – Shipra Pal

An insurance company is responsible for offering continuous service to its policyholders irrespective of the availability of the agent. All insurers today have robust processes to directly deal with customers in case of any servicing requirement. You can approach the insurance company directly to register the death claim. Claim intimation should be sent to the insurance company as early as possible. The claim intimation should contain information like date, place and cause of death. You may use all channels available to reach out to the insurer, such as calling on the company's customer care number and visiting a nearby branch office if possible.

Every life insurance company endeavours to provide personalised assistance to the claimant for completion of documentation and settlement of claims. Such initiatives aim at assisting claimants to complete the claim related documentation and formalities to tide over the crisis.

Ensure that you have the complete documentation handy for a hassle-free process. The basic documents that are generally required are a death certificate, filled up claim form and policy bond. Other documents such as medical attendant's certificate, hospital certificate, employer's certificate, police inquest report, coroner's report etc could be called for, as applicable. The claim requirements are usually disclosed in the policy bond.

Anuj Mathur, MD and CEO, Canara HSBC Oriental Bank of Commerce Life Insurance

Send your queries related to personal tax to personalfinance@dnaindia.net