A Quick Guide on PLI death claim Settlement | How to claim on death (SOP)

Many times PLI policyholders died due to some natural reasons. Policyholder family members don’t know how to settle PLI death claims. Today I am going to share about PLI death claim full information in detail. I am also giving a brief on the PLI death claim procedure, PLI death claim form, PLI death claim SOP, PLI death claim rules, PLI dearth claim status, etc. So just read this post up to the end and get all about postal life insurance death claim.
PLI death claim settlement

Postal life Insurance Overview (What is PLI)  

Postal Life insurance (PLI) is a vital protection coverage for loved ones in the event of one’s untimely death. The most basic and important reason behind buying a Life Insurance Policy is to arrange for financial assistance for loved ones. Any of the government servants and private servants can buy a PLI policy for his life protection. Just visit the nearest post office and fill out the PLI application form and take your PLI passbook. You have to deposit a PLI premium on a monthly basis or a half-year/ yearly basis.
Each PLI policyholder wants to know how to settle a PLI death claim. Here I am sharing all the information regarding the settlement of a postal life insurance death claim.

PLI Death Claim Rules 

Firstly, you have a question in your mind that what is PLI death claim rules? The answer is that the average number of days taken by major insurance players in settling the death claim is about 30 days. A commitment has also been made by the Department in its Citizen Charter, that the death claim of PLI and RPLI would be settled within 30 days in respect of normal claim cases and 90 days in respect of cases involving Inquiry.
These rules are presented here as per the norm laid down in the Citizen charter on PLI death claims rules.
PLI/RPLI is operating in significantly one of the most competitive insurance markets. therefore the PLI department of India Post wants to settle the death claim of PLI and RPLI as per norms. which is already shared in supra. 
However, it is observed that against the norm of 30 days, all India’s average number of days taken to settle a PLI death claim is 62 days. Similarly, the average number of days taken to settle an RPLI death claim is 64 days. 
In respect of death claim cases requiring inquiry, the average number of days taken by the majority of Circles to settle/reject the case is more than the prescribed 90 days. Therefore an SOP was issued by the PLI Directorate regarding the settlement of death claims of PLI and RPLI. The SOP is explained below in this post. You should read it.  

PLI Death Claim Form PDF download

The form used for settlement of Postal life Insurance death claim is called the PLI death claim form. You can download the PLI death claim form PDF from the below link in PDF format. This form is also known as Annexure-I of PLI,
Annexure-I Click here to download the Postal life insurance death claim form   

PLI Death Claim Procedure (step-by-step)

Before it, you have to know that the period elapsed between the date of acceptance of the proposal and the cause of death of the Insurant plays an important role in deciding the procedure for handling the death claim cases. 
However, it is observed that the average number of days taken by the majority of Circles to settle/reject the case is more than the prescribed 90 days.  Hence an PLI death claim SOP for settlement cases is issued by the PLI Directorate vide letter no. 25-04/SOP/2020-LI dated 18.08.2020.

01. PLI death claim based on the period of the Insurance Policy- 

  • Claims where Death occurs after completion of 3 years from the date of acceptance of proposal or date of revival of the policy, whichever is later.
  • Claims where death occurs before completion of 3 years from the date of acceptance of proposal or date of revival of the policy, whichever is later.

02. PLI death claim based on the cause of Death of the Insurant

  • Natural Death – All deaths except death by suicide, murder, or accident.
  • Un-natural Death – Death due to suicide, murder, or accident.

Now I am sharing the PLI death claim procedure. If a claimant wants to get a PLI death claim then he should follow the below procedure.
  • 01. The Claimant should submit the PLI death claim form (Annexure-I) along with required documents at any Post Office or CPC. The BPM/SPM/Postmaster or CPC in-charge of the Office concerned, where the claim is submitted, shall scrutinize the Claim Application to ensure that the requisite details are duly filled in and the relevant documents are attached and the same is mentioned thereon. If required, the official concerned shall help the Claimant in filling up the PLI death claim form correctly by guiding and explaining the requirements.
  • 02. All the ORIGINAL documents are required to be produced while submitting the Claim Application and the same will be returned to the Claimant after having been compared with the copies thereof being submitted along with the PLI death claim form.
  • 03. However, the original Policy Bond shall be retained/submitted along with the Claim Application. 
  • 04. Letter of Indemnity (Annex-III) and Indemnity Bond (Annex-VI) shall also be submitted in the original.
  • 05. The following documents are required to be submitted along with the Claim application:
List of Documents for Unnatural Death- 
  • Claim Application form 
  • Original Policy Bond or Letter of Indemnity* (Annexure-III)
  • Self-Attested copy of Death Certificate (issued by Local Administration/Registrar of local board/village panchayat/Medical Practitioner or Certificate from Doctor who last attended the Insurant clearly mentioning the reason of death) 
  • Self-Attested copy of ID and Address proof of the Claimant (list of Documents acceptable as
  • ID and Address proof is given in Annexure-II) with the details of mobile number, e-Mail ID and his/her relationship with insurant
  • Canceled Cheque for Bank mandate
  • Self-Attested copy of Legal Documents in support of his/her claim (Letter of Administration or Succession Certificate or Probate of Will), if the nomination is not available)
  • Self-Attested copy of FIR
  • Self-Attested copy of Post-mortem report
  • Indemnity Bond* (Annexure-VI) from Claimant
  • Document of Credit ** (if Pay Policy)
  • Premium Receipt Book *** (If Cash Policy)
List of Documents for natural Death- 
  • Claim Application form 
  • Original Policy Bond or Letter of Indemnity* (Annexure-III)
  • Self-Attested copy of Death Certificate (issued by Local Administration/Registrar of local board/village panchayat/Medical Practitioner or Certificate from Doctor who last attended the Insurant clearly mentioning the reason of death) 
  • Self-Attested copy of ID and Address proof of the Claimant (list of Documents acceptable as
  • ID and Address proof is given in Annexure-II) with the details of mobile number, e-Mail ID and his/her relationship with insurant
  • Canceled Cheque for Bank mandate
  • Self-Attested copy of Legal Documents in support of his/her claim (Letter of Administration or Succession Certificate or Probate of Will), if the nomination is not available)
  • Document of Credit ** (if Pay Policy)
  • Premium Receipt Book *** (If Cash Policy)
Note (*): Letter of Indemnity and Indemnity Bond, if any, must be Notarised from Public Notary on non-judicial stamp paper of value as prescribed in the State concerned.
Note (**) In case, premia payment is not updated in Pay Policies, a certificate from the Employer
about the deduction of premia and details/copy of the premia schedule sent to India Post.
Note (***) In case, premia payment is not updated in Cash Policies, Premium receipt Book is
mandatory for updation of Premia paid by Insurant on McCamish Software.
Wherever a self-attested copy of a document is submitted, the official accepting the same will compare it with the ORIGINALS and shall put his/her signature in token of having verified the copies with their originals.
The Office concerned will give an Acknowledgement (Part of Annex-I) for receipt of Claim Application to the Claimant.

PLI Death Claim SOP (Standard Operating Procedure)

Recently, the PLI directorate has been issued a letter regarding the standard operating procedure (SOP) for settlement of postal life insurance death claim cases. This SOP of PLI death claim should be followed by all Circles. PLI death claim procedure should be followed as per this SOP.

It is also directed by the PLI directorate that necessary amendments required in Rule 39 of POLI Rules, 2011 in consequence of these instructions will be notified accordingly. You may check these amendments from here
As per the PLI Directorate, this SOP should be followed by all concerned to facilitate PLI customers.

01. Action at Branch Post Office (BO)- 

In case the Claim Application is received at BO, the BPM shall forward the Claim Application along with all the enclosures to its Account Office through Account Bag on the same day duly entered in their Daily Account/Daily Transaction report (DTR) after Indexing it in the RICT device, if possible.

02. Action at Sub Post Office (SO)- 

The Claim Application may be received at SO either directly or through BO. In both the cases, Indexing of the Claim Application shall be done at the SO itself (in cases Indexing not already done at BO for Application received at BO). 
After Indexing, the Claim Application shall be sent to the HO (CPC) concerned (with which the office is mapped with) on the same day through Account Bag duly entered in their Daily Account/Daily Transaction report (DTR).

03. Action at HO (CPC) – 

The Claim Application may be received at CPC either directly or through SO/BO. Indexing of the Claim Application shall be done before further processing (if Indexing not already done at SO/BO for Application received at SO/BO).
4. All Post Offices shall maintain a Register in the following format for the Claim Application received-  Name of the Office ___________________________
Sl. No.    Date of Receipt,    Name of Insurant,    Policy Number,    Sum Assured,     Type of Policy,        Service Request No.,    Date of dispatch to CPC,    Sign of Official

5. Processing of PLI death Claim Application

5.1 Action at CPC on receipt of claim cases

All the Claim Applications so received shall be entered in a Register maintained for this purpose in the following format:
Sl,     Service Request No. and date,    Date of Receipt in CPC,     Received from (Claimant /name of office),     Name of Insurant,     Policy Number,     Sum Assured ,     Type of Policy,     Inquiry Required (Yes/No),      Sanction Amount and Date,     Mode & Date of payment,     Remarks,     Sign of Official
In case any required document is found not submitted, a written communication (Annexure-VII) will be sent immediately by the CPC through Registered AD to the Claimant requesting to submit the requisite document(s) within 15 days.
In case of non-receipt of the requisite document(s) within 15 days, a reminder shall be sent to the Claimant through Registered AD intimating that if required document(s) are not submitted within the next 7 days, the case will be closed. 
In case required document(s) are still not received after expiry of the extended period, the claim application along with other documents (s), so submitted, shall be returned to the Claimant through Registered AD. Remarks to this effect shall be made in the Register maintained for this purpose (as prescribed in para 5.1 above). 
The CPC shall check to ensure that entries of all the documents are made correctly while Indexing, Scanning, and Data Entry of the death claim application along with all the enclosed documents.
Once the Claim Application is found to be complete in all respects including receipt of required documents, the CPC in-charge will check the category of claim i.e. whether claims pertain to category (i) where Death occurred after completion of 3 years from the date of acceptance of proposal or date of revival of the policy, whichever is later or (ii) where the death occurred before completion of 3 years from the date of acceptance of proposal or date of revival of the policy, whichever is later and shall take time-bound action accordingly.

5.2 Death occurs beyond 3 years from the date of acceptance of proposal or date of a revival of the policy, whichever is later

As per the Insurance market regulator in India (IRDAI) the insurer has only 3 years window for calling a policy in question on the ground of misrepresentation or suppression of a material fact not amounting to fraud, from the date of issuance of policy or date of commencement of risk or date of revival of policy or date of the rider of the policy, whichever is later. It is regardless of whether the claim has arisen or not and when it is intimated. Once this period of 3 years is over, the policy cannot be called in question. Accordingly, if a death claim in respect of policy arises after 3 years from the date of acceptance of proposal or date of revival of the policy, whichever is later, there is no need for Inquiry.
Therefore, all PLI/RPLI death claims which are presented after 3 years from the date of acceptance of proposals or date of revival of the policy, whichever is later, there is no need for carrying out any Inquiry in the matter.
CPC will send all the documents including the death claim application duly signed on the checklist (Annexure-IV) with full name (of CPC in charge), Designation, and date to Approving Authority, under whose jurisdiction the CPC lies, for approval. The case shall also be submitted in McCamish, simultaneously.

5.3 Death occurs within 3 years from the date of acceptance of proposal or date of a revival of the policy, whichever is later

Where the death of insurant occurs within 3 years from the date of acceptance of proposal or date of revival of the policy, whichever is later, the CPC shall submit all the documents including the death claim application duly signed on the checklist (Annexure-IV) with full name (of CPC in charge), designation and date to Approving Authority, under whose jurisdiction the CPC lies, for death claim inquiry and processing. the case shall also be submitted in McCamish, simultaneously.

6. Action by Approving Authority

In case of Claim Application does not require Inquiry: – The Approving Authority shall go through the Claim Application and shall approve/reject the case after scrutiny by making appropriate remarks on the checklist (Annexure-IV). A copy of Annexure-IV is retained by the office of the Approving Authority. Original checklist and all the enclosed documents are returned to CPC concerned for further action.
In case of Claim Application requires Inquiry: – The Approving Authority shall send the case to the Inquiry Officer concerned if the place of Inquiry (which would be primarily decided based on the place of death) lies within the jurisdiction of the Approving Authority.
In case the place of Inquiry is beyond the jurisdiction of the Approving Authority, the case shall be sent to the Division concerned (under whose jurisdiction the place of inquiry lies) for Inquiry through McCamish.
On receipt of the Inquiry report from the Inquiry Officer, the Approving Authority concerned shall either approve or reject the case.
Approving Authority shall maintain details of Inquiry cases in the following format:
Sl.,      Service Request No. and date,     Date of receipt in O/o Approving Authority,     Policy
No.,     Date of sending the case for Inquiry,     Name & designation of Inquiry Officer (in case place of Inquiry lies within the jurisdiction of Approving Authority),     Name of the Division to which case sent for Inquiry (in case place of Inquiry lies outside the jurisdiction of Approving Authority),     Date of receipt of Inquiry Report,     Date of Approval/ Rejection of the Claim.
In case of rejection, the reasons for rejection shall be stated in writing.
The Approving Authority concerned should ensure returning the checklist (Annexure-IV) to the CPC duly signed along with his/her name, designation, and date on the checklist, after approval/rejection for further processing.

7. Manner of Inquiry

The Inquiry Officer shall be nominated by the Approving Authority or the Divisional Head, as the case may be.
Any Inspector Posts/Assistant Superintendent of Posts/PRI (P)/Marketing Executive etc. may be nominated as Inquiry Officer. He/she may obtain the assistance of any postal official for the purpose if considered necessary.
While inquiring into the death claim, the Inquiry officer must check, if the insured has died due to any disease and if so, whether the insurant was aware of that disease prior to taking the policy.
Inquiry officer should clearly mention this fact along with supporting document(s) in his report that insurant was aware of the disease prior to taking the policy and insurant has suppressed the material fact about the disease at the time of taking the policy. In case, no such supporting documentation is available with an investigating officer in support of his claim, he should clearly mention it in his report that no document(s) to this effect are available.
In the case of unnatural death, the Inquiry Officer shall inquire with the Hospital/Doctor and Police Station concerned to verify the genuineness of the Post-mortem report, FIR, etc.  Additionally, he/she shall inquire about any update/amendment in the Post-mortem/FIR and shall obtain a copy of such an update/amendment if any.
An inquiry officer is required to submit his/her report (Annexure V) complete in all respect within 21 days (15 days for Inquiry into the case and 6 days for preparation and submission of the report).

8. Action at CPC on receipt of Approval/Rejection of the Claim from  Approving Authority

In case of Approval
  • Shall generate Sanction Letter
  • Shall send a copy of the Sanction Letter to Postmaster for crediting the sanctioned amount into the Account details submitted by the Claimant in the Claim Application. One copy of the Sanction Letter shall be sent to the Claimant through Registered AD.
  • In case of account details not given by the Claimant or any technical problem arising due to incomplete/wrong information about the account, a Crossed The cheque shall be drawn by the Postmaster. The Crossed Cheque along with the Sanction Letter shall be sent to the claimant through Registered AD.
In case of Rejection
  • If a claim is rejected, CPC shall send Rejection Letter (generated through McCamish) to the Claimant through Registered AD by the next working day giving him/her the reasons for rejection.

9. Time limit prescribed (in working days)

In case No Inquiry is required- Activity with Time Limit (Max.)
  • Receipt and forwarding of Claim Application by BO- 1 day
  • Receipt, Indexing, and forwarding of Claim Application by SO- 1 day
  • Indexing and Scanning (ECMS) in CPC- 2 days
  • Data Entry in CPC 1 day
  • Quality Checking in CPC 1 day
  • Approval 3 days
  • Sanction Letter generation in CPC 1 day
  • Sanction amount transfer through Bank mandate by Postmaster 2 day
  • Drawing Cheque of the Sanction amount by Postmaster, in case of account details not provided- 
  • 1 day
  • Dispatch of Sanction Letter with/without Crossed Cheque-1 day
  • Total No. of Days- 14 days

9.2 In case Inquiry is required- Activity with Time Limit (Max.)
  • Receipt and forwarding of Claim Application by BO- 1 day
  • Receipt, Indexing, and forwarding of Claim Application by SO- 1 day
  • Indexing and Scanning (ECMS) in CPC- 2 days
  • Data Entry in CPC- 1 day
  • Quality Checking in CPC- 1 day
  • Claim Inquiry- 21 days
  • Approval- 15 days
  • Sanction/Rejection Letter generation in CPC- 1 day
  • Sanction amount transfer through Bank mandate by Postmaster- 2 days
  • Drawing of Cheque for the Sanction amount by Postmaster, in case of account details not provided- 1 day
  • Dispatch of Sanction Letter with/without Crossed Cheque- 1 day
  • Total No. of Days- 47 days

List of all Annexures required in PLI death claim Procedure

01. Annexure-I
Death claim application form of PLI RPLI with acknowledgment slip to be given to the claimant
02. Annexure-II 
list of documents that can be submitted as ID and address proof by the claimant
03. Annexure-III
Letter of indemnity  ( to be executed by the claimant in absence of original policy document
04. Annexure-IV 
checklist for quality checking to be filled by CPC in charge
05. Annexure-V 
Proforma for the inquiry report
06. Annexure-VI 
Indemnity bond ( to be executed by the claimant in case of unnatural death of the insurant) 
07. Annexure-VII
Format for communication with the claimant, in case of any document, has not been submitted by the claimant or any document required from the claimant.
PLI Directorate letter along with SOP of postal life insurance death claim and all Annexures can be downloaded from the below link.

PLI death Claim SOP PDF Download

Postal Directorate has been released latest SOP for PLI death claims to settle all claims related to Postal Life Insuarance. You can download PLI death claim SOP PDF for the below link.
 
How to claim PLI on death

End Thought

Today I told you the step-by-step process of PLI Death chain settlement. I give the right answer to the question of how to claim PLI on death? PLI death claim form PDF download is also available here for free download. I also provided here PLI death claim rules, PLI death claim SOP, and PLI death claim calculator.

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