6 Tips to Make Your Home Loan Insurance Claim Process Easier

Dealing with your absence is by itself very painful for your loved ones. The last thing they should be worrying about is how to make an insurance claim. The death of a loved one is a very stressful situation and no one deserves to be caught up in time-consuming insurance claim process during that time. To make the lives of your loved ones a little easy when you are no more, you will have to take some precautions now. If you have a home loan insurance plan and want to make the claim process smooth for your loved ones, read on.

What is a Home Loan Insurance Plan?

A home loan insurance plan is also called as “Home Loan Protection Plan”. This insurance plan pays for the total outstanding home loan amount in case of any eventuality. In case of the death of the insured, permanent disability, or critical illness, the policy will become effective.

When is a Home Loan Insurance Claim Made?

A home loan insurance claim is made in case of death of the insured. If the insured has enhanced the insurance plan with add-ons, a claim can be made if the insured is permanently disabled or is diagnosed with any one of the critical illnesses. In most of the cases, the claim is made by the beneficiary as the insured will not be in a state to submit the claim.

Tips to Make Home Loan Insurance Claim Process Easy for Your Beneficiaries

If you do not want your loved ones to be buried in a pile of paperwork, follow the following steps to make the home loan insurance claim process easier for them:

• Be honest when purchasing the policy: It is very important that you are honest when you purchase your home loan insurance plan. If you are suffering from any pre-existing ailments, you will have to declare them honestly. In case of any eventuality, when your beneficiary is making a claim and the insurer rejects the claim as you did not declare complete information when you purchased the policy, your beneficiary will have to bear the brunt.
• Update beneficiary details regularly: One of the most important things you have to do when you purchase any kind of insurance is to update the right beneficiary details. If you updated your parents as your beneficiaries and got married later, it is your responsibility to go ahead and add your spouse as a dependent/beneficiary. Your home loan insurance claim may be rejected if the beneficiary details is not updated. Take some time out to check the nominees on all your insurance plans to be on the safe side.
• Understand your home loan insurance plan: Understanding your home loan protection insurance plan is very important. There are many exclusions in any insurance plan. Please read your policy documents clearly and know the limitations. Many assume that the beneficiaries will get a lump sum maturity amount when they make a home loan insurance claim. However, that is not true. The insurer will only cover the outstanding home loan amount.
• Talk to the beneficiary: Your home loan protection plan are not a secret. It is very important to sit down with your beneficiaries and tell them about the plan. When you fail to do so, your dependents will not be aware of such a plan and will not make a claim in your absence. Tell them about the plan, how it works, the claim process, and leave a phone number they can call if required.
• Keep all the required documents in one place: Documents play a crucial role in insurance claim process. To process a claim, your insurer will need all the relevant documents. Do your loved ones a favour and leave all the documents required to process a claim like your identity proof, address proof, policy document, and any other documents required in a file in a safe place. Let your beneficiary know about the same. This will help them greatly when you are not around.
• Make sure all premiums are paid: One of the main reason insurance claims are rejected these days are because of outstanding premiums. If your payment is not up to date, your insurance policy may be void.

The bottom line

It is not mandatory to have a home loan insurance plan in our country. It is optional and you can choose to ignore it. But if you do have one, make sure you follow these simple steps to make the home loan protection plan claim process easier for your beneficiaries.