Mom’s life insurance company won’t tell me whether I’m the beneficiary or not…?

[homesteader]

My mom passed away in October and I’m slowly working through all of her accounts and getting things taken care of and I found her life insurance policy info, so I called them to begin the claims process today. It was a little odd because I asked them if they could verify that I was the beneficiary on the policy, and I asked because the last conversation she and I had about it a year ago or so she had mentioned something about wanting to switch the beneficiary from me to her sister as my name is on everything else and my aunt was not doing well financially, though she never confirmed whether or not she had done it, and more importantly, her sister died 3 months before she did.

The insurance company took my info like name, address, email, etc and said to call back in 3-5 business days to allow time for their verification process and then they could tell me if I was the beneficiary. Does this seem normal? When I filed paperwork to have her pension and retirement funds released to me they told me on the phone that day I was the beneficiary. Should I assume them not telling me whether I am or not as evidence that I am not? Is this just a standard practice?

 

[aatif]

@homesteader Yes, this is normal. Unless your mother instructed the company otherwise you don't have a legal right to information on the policy. The company doesn't know you, your relationship with your mother or anything else. They just know you are not the owner of the policy and that they have a legal obligation to keep the owners information private. Even if they are dead.

Yes, this is inconvenient right now because of how things played out but if someone was acting in bad faith you would appreciate it.

 

[homesteader]

@aatif Thank you! This was my first thought but it seemed weird given my other experiences. That makes total sense. Thanks!

 

[dinkold]

@homesteader They have a process they need to follow. But I would simply download a claim form from their website and submit it. If you are the bene you will get a check. If you are not you won't.

 

[homesteader]

@dinkold Yeah I understand they have a process, that isn’t what I’m concerned about. My experience thus far has been that they’ve told me if I am. If I’m not then the only person it would be is also dead and I’ll need to plan for that contingency.

 

[jessicastone]

@homesteader If your aunt was the beneficiary, the company will take steps to pay the death benefit to her estate or heirs. You won't need to plan anything.

 

[jeshurun1111]

@jessicastone No, they'd pay it to the next beneficiary in line or, if none, mom's estate (unless designated per stirpes). So it could easily be back to OP.

 

[fendertele52]

@dinkold No, that isn't how it works. If OP is the beneficiary they will have the correct form sent to them. If they are not the beneficiary and send in a claim form, they will need to be denied, which will dely the claim for the actual beneficiary. No one with a legitimate claim to a life insurance policy should be submitting claim forms.

 

[dinkold]

@fendertele52 So your company knows exactly how to get in touch with the millions of beneficiaries that long ago were named in the original application and now have moved, married, divorced, married again and moved 12 times since that application? I am calling BS on that being the case.

 

[floridaman1]

@homesteader As others have stated, yes this is normal to protect privacy. However, if you had a really good agent, you could have spoken with them first and you wouldn't need to jump on Reddit to get answers from random folks. You may want to check for the agent contact info.

I make sure my clients have all this, on file as well as a contact on the phone and send to their beneficiaries (unless they purposely do not want to).

 

[homesteader]

@floridaman1 Unfortunately she bought that policy when Reagan was in office and the agent she bought it from has been long retired according to the company, and there’s no indication she was assigned another because I did ask for an agent she may have worked with as that’s what I did on the retirement account.

 

[tdselector]

@homesteader They have privacy laws to be concerned about. They are not allowed to give out information to anyone who is not a beneficiary.

 

[honeybee81]

@homesteader It might be helpful to call them next week and tell them that if your aunt is designated, she predeceased.

But no, this is normal, they are probably waiting for some part of their process - another department that holds the beneficiary designations, etc. We don't give out any info on a claim until all the information is in it and it's been signed to an examiner who has had a chance to do their initial review and verify everything.

 

[wirefence]

@homesteader Did you find anything out? Exact same thing happened to me today.

 

[homesteader]

@wirefence Yeah, I was the beneficiary. Another poster here was correct and that the company’s practice is to not give out that info. Made sense then it was just was different than my experience.

 

[wirefence]

@homesteader Happy for you! So stressful after we lose loved ones.

 

[mcsteiner]

@homesteader Good grief. Not everything happens in a minute. Post again if real time has passed without a response. Like weeks or months.

 

[homesteader]

@mcsteiner I don’t think you read the post. I was asking if it’s common practice to not advise someone when asked if they are the beneficiary or not. I don’t expect them to process the claim and pay me in 10 minutes, my experience thus far with other institutions has been that I’ve been advised that I am the beneficiary and found it odd the life insurance company would neither confirm nor deny that. If you can’t speak to whether that’s common practice or not I understand.

 

[hannahjane]

@homesteader Yes. It is common. Insurance company admin systems are old and may not have stored the beneficiary because it wasn’t critical for processing premiums .

More importantly at claim time, companies don’t want to get the beneficiary wrong because that triggers complaints and lawsuits. They’d rather take 3-5 business days to confirm than tell someone they are beneficiary and be wrong.