How to Claim Unclaimed Amount with LIC Policy?
Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) recently filed its DRHP with the market regulator SEBI for its mega IPO. LIC plans to sell a 5% stake via Offer- for- sale. The Draft Red Herring Prospectus (DRHP) disclosed that LIC had unclaimed funds of around Rs 21,539 crores as of September 2021. This includes interest earned over the outstanding unclaimed amount.
With respect to life insurance policies, unclaimed amount refers to the amount of money that remains unpaid to the policyholders or beneficiaries in the form of survival claim, premium funds, maturity claim, death claim, indemnity claim, etc. This happens mainly because policyholders often forget to claim or the nominee is unaware of the existence of a life insurance policy.
As per SEBI’s guidelines, insurers have to compulsorily provide information about any unclaimed amount of Rs 1000 or more via the websites of the respective insurers. This is to enable policyholders or beneficiaries to verify the unclaimed amount due to them.
Here’s how LIC policyholders can check if there’s any unclaimed amount against their policies.
How to claim unclaimed LIC amount?
Step 1 – Visit LIC’s unclaimed policy page
OR
Visit LIC’s website
Scroll down to the bottom of the pages. Among the bottom links, click on ‘Unclaimed Amounts of Policyholders’. You will then be directed to LIC’s unclaimed policy page.
Step 2
Fill in details required – LIC Policy Number, Policy-holder’s Name, Date of Birth, and PAN Card Number.
Click ‘Submit’ after filling in the details. The details w.r.t unclaimed amount against policies (if any) will be displayed on the screen.
Process to get unclaimed money
The beneficiary under the policy can then contact the customer care number of the insurer or visit the nearest office of the insurer. The beneficiary will have to submit policy details and documents and complete the KYC. Once the identity of the beneficiary is validated, the unclaimed amounts shall be paid to the beneficiary. All the payments due to the policyholders by way of the unclaimed amount shall be routed through the respective bank accounts through any electronic mode as may be permitted by the RBI from time to time.
Points to note
While you as a policyholder can claim your unclaimed amount, it is better to get your claim or maturity amount as and when your policy ends or matures.