There is a lot of frustration involved in an unforeseen death. Often the policy has been misplaced and no one knows who to contact in order to make a claim on the life insurance policy. The following instructions will help you to locate the standard or joint life insurance policy information if it has been lost.
1. The first thing to do to locate your standard or joint life insurance policy information is to check with a previous employer for records. Even if the employer was not involved in the issuance of the life insurance policy, they may have required this information for emergency purposes depending on the job responsibilities and the employer.
2. Check through old records. Often even an old or outdated policy may lead to the information you need. Standard and joint life insurance policies are often sold through brokerages to larger insurance companies. Often you are able to find out who is the current policy provider through a previous agreement because of this.
3. It is unlikely that you would know who the insurance broker is, but if you do, they would be able to pull the records and find the insurance company. This is often the case if the broker is a family member or a friend.
4. If all else fails, you can mail off to American Counsel of Life Insurance and they may be able to produce the information. Here is the address: American Council of Life Insurance 1001 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20004-2599 Be sure to include a self-addressed and stamped business size envelope. The way this process works is they will forward your request to over one hundred of the biggest life insurance companies to see if they own the policy. If they are able to locate the policy, then they will forward you a copy of it by mail. A nominal fee is charged for this service.
How To Cancel Insurance Policy
Payment Protection Insurance (PPI), we believe, is generally not value for money and that there are better plans to be had for relatively little more. If you have PPI and do not fully understand it and how it works, then it is likely to have been mis-sold to you. Or, if you were aware of what you were agreeing to but have had a change of mind you are able to cancel.
Cancelling Your Policy
If you come to the conclusion that you do not require the PPI that you have signed up to it is simple to cancel it. Every policy can be cancelled within 14 or 30 days, subject to terms, of the day it started. The policy can however, still be cancelled after this time.
Cancelling Your Monthly PPI Payment
If you have a PPI policy that is with a mortgage or store card they are usually paid monthly and can be cancelled at any time without any extra cost. Any direct debit must also be cancelled otherwise it will continue to be taken from your account.
How To Cancel A Single Premium Policy
A finance agreement or loan PPI is usually paid as a single premium policy which is basically paying up front for the life of the cover. This can now be cancelled before the end of the term. The Financial Services Authority (FSA) has initiated some new stipulations which obligate the lender to calculate a fair refund, but, they are free to charge costs which are fairly steep. In the case that you feel the refund that you get is not terribly fair you can go to the Financial Ombudsman Service to verify it.
Refunds
You are well within your rights to ask the company how they have calculated your refund and arrived at the settlement that they propose if you are not satisfied with it.
Just to confuse us, the premium is not divided up by the years the PPI lasts, it is calculated on risk against claims, so at the beginning of the policy there are 5 years during which a claim can be made making the likelihood higher and the premium higher, whereas, in the fourth year, there is only one year left during which a claim can be made so the risk is less therefore the premium decreases towards the end of the term.
You need to ask the insurer for a breakdown of how much of the premium is allocated to each year and then if you think your refund is not fair you should contact the Financial Ombudsman Service and ask them to look into it.
What To Do If You Are Refused A Refund
If in the case that you approach your insurer and they will not give you a refund then you need to refer to the Financial Services Association for support and to report them, and if they continue to refuse, make a formal complaint to the company and also approach the Financial Ombudsman Service for assistance.
Both Ada Denis & Sheila Challiner are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
