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How long does a life insurance company keep a death certificate?

If a person who died many years ago was said to be listed as beneficiary on a life insurance policy of a relative, and the insured relative died last year, about how long does the average insurance company hold the certificate during its investigation? Weeks or months? Does it make any difference that both people lived in different states? Please state some factors involved. Thanks.

Public Comments

1. Are you expecting the death certificate back for some reason? Not likely they will return it at all. The certificate submitted to them becomes part of the proof and part of the claim file. You can obtain multiple official copies of a Death Certificate, so there would be no need to send it back to you and there is a definite need to keep it in the claim file to show a proper investigation was conducted and the conclusions supported. Most insurance companies have file retention dates for claim files that are set when the claim is closed (paid or not paid) and most likely will last for the statutory period allowed to challenge a claim or start a law suit. My company retains claim files for a minimum of 5 years before it destroys the file, longer in many cases. (although I work for a Property and Casualty Company not a life insurance company). Living in different states wouldn't have much effect on things in the US, living in a different country might. What determines the length of the investigation is whether there is some question as to coverage under the policy and what information is required to resolve the question. It may also be that beneficiaries have to be tracked down and their identities verified. If they are easy to find, then less time is taken. These processes also depend on cooperation from the people and authorities involved. Most states have requirements that after a coverage determination is made either a declination letter or the payment must be issued within a certain time. Try this site to find the best life insurance http://best-life-insurance-usa.blogspot.com/ Here you can get quotes from different life insurance companies in your area, its the best way to find an affordable life insurance with a reliable company.
2. At a minimum they would keep it 7 years but i would suspect most, if not all, will keep an electronic copy of forever.