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Moon Insurance Managers, Inc. · TDI license #5595

Life Insurance FAQs: Applications, Replacements & Claims

This page is about how life insurance works — the sequence, the paperwork, and what to do when something has gone wrong or somebody has died.

Questions about choosing a policy belong on individual life insurance, which is where they are answered properly rather than twice.

In order

How buying life insurance actually runs

A needs conversation

What the money would have to do, for whom, for how long, and what resources already exist. Nothing has been applied for yet.

Then an application

Questions and evidence vary by insurer, product, amount and applicant: health questions, records, third-party data, an interview or an exam. A no-exam product can still be underwritten.

Then underwriting

The insurer reviews the evidence and decides. This is the stage that takes the time.

Then an offer

It may differ from the application or illustration in price, risk class or terms. Treat it as a new decision point, not a formality.

Then issue, delivery and acceptance

The insurer may require premium, signatures, health confirmations or other conditions before the policy is in force. Ask what is outstanding.

Coverage timing is contract-specific. A temporary-insurance agreement or conditional receipt can provide limited cover during underwriting when its conditions are met; another application provides none. For an issued policy, get the effective date and in-force status in writing. Payment, approval, issue and delivery are four different words.

Ask which stage the application has reached, what is outstanding, and whether the estimate came from the insurer. And do not cancel existing coverage until the new insurer confirms the policy is in force, every delivery condition is complete, and you have read the issued contract.

Source: TDI — Life Insurance Guide. Verified .

Worth asking out loud

Who pays the agent

Life agents are commonly paid by insurers, through commissions. Compensation, available products and distribution channels vary, so no honest page promises the same premium in every channel, or claims that compensation never affects what an agent prefers.

  • Which insurers and product types are you authorized and appointed to offer?
  • Are you comparing one insurer, or more than one?
  • How are you paid, and does the compensation differ between the options you are showing me?
  • Which guarantees, nonguaranteed values, total premiums and contract features support the recommendation?

Do not rely on the word independent by itself. Get the answers for the specific producer and product, in writing where the distinction matters.

Somebody has proposed a swap

If a replacement is on the table

When Texas Insurance Code Chapter 1114 applies, the applicant and agent document existing coverage, the applicant receives a replacement notice no later than the application, and the replacing insurer notifies the existing insurer. The owner then has 30 days after delivery to return the replacement for the statutory refund.

A replacement usually begins new contestability and suicide periods, though certain same-insurer or affiliated-insurer replacements must credit the elapsed periods. Before agreeing to anything, compare:

  • Surrender charges, and any cash value or dividends given up.
  • Acquisition costs, and the new premium schedule.
  • Old and new guarantees, alongside the nonguaranteed illustrations.
  • Conversion, rider, loan and benefit differences.
  • New health evidence, and the effective-date conditions.
  • Whether the existing policy could be changed instead, at lower cost.

Keep the old policy in force until the new one is issued, delivered, reviewed and accepted. The product comparison belongs on individual life insurance.

Source: Tex. Ins. Code ch. 1114 — replacement. Verified .

A parent has died

You think there was a policy and cannot find it

TDI says plainly that it has no way of knowing whether a person had a policy, and runs no searchable database. What it does is direct eligible requesters to the free NAIC Life Insurance Policy Locator: participating insurers search their own records, and one contacts you only if it finds a match and you are entitled to the information.

  1. Gather the death certificate and the authority the NAIC request requires.
  2. Check bank statements and check registers for payments to insurers.
  3. Look for agents in address books, email, files, and any safe-deposit records you may lawfully access.
  4. Contact current and former employers or unions promptly about active group coverage, portability or conversion — group coverage typically ends when employment ends.
  5. Search Texas Unclaimed Property: unclaimed benefits may be turned over to the state after three years.

An insurance agency cannot search every carrier’s private records, and neither can we. Be careful with anyone who guarantees a match, or who charges you for access to the free NAIC service.

Sources: TDI — life insurance consumer hub; NAIC — Life Insurance Policy Locator; Texas Unclaimed Property. Verified .

After a death

There is a policy. What now?

The insurer decides and pays the claim. Start through its official claims channel. Requirements vary but commonly include a claim form, proof of death, beneficiary identity, and the policy information if you have it. Ask the carrier for its exact list rather than sending sensitive documents anywhere else.

TDI says life insurers generally must pay within two months of receiving proof of death and verifying the beneficiary. Interest rules apply, and a claim during the contestable period can require investigation. That is guidance about the rule — not a promise about a particular claim.

If you are not sure where to start, use Moon’s claim-routing page to find the right route, then confirm the required documents and the claim status with the insurer directly.

This website does not accept claims and does not take documents. Do not send information about the deceased through any general form.

Source: TDI — Life Insurance Guide. Verified .

A notice arrived

What if a premium was missed?

Read the grace-period and lapse notice immediately, and contact the insurer through a number you have verified. A grace period is not permission to ignore the premium — how coverage and any claim are treated depends on the contract and the timing.

If the policy has lapsed, reinstatement may require the overdue premium, interest, a new application or evidence of insurability, and can start a new contestability period for the statements made to reinstate it. Ask the insurer to confirm the amount, deadline, evidence and current status in writing. Do not send money to an unfamiliar caller on the strength of an urgent notice.

Answered elsewhere

Questions that belong on another page

These eight used to live here. Each is a product question, answered properly on individual life insurance rather than half-answered in two places:

And if the main need is funeral costs, start with final expense, which also explains how a policy differs from a prepaid funeral contract.

Boundaries

What this website does and does not do

It does not prove a price or offer coverage. A quote or an illustration is not an issued policy.

It does not change coverage. Changes take effect only under the insurer’s requirements and written confirmation. Use policy service for the verified route.

It does not take documents. There is no upload anywhere on this site, and there should not be. What it gives you is the questions and the official routes to start the right conversation with the right party.

Ask us

If you are stuck, the phone is faster

Call (281) 484-8320 and say which stage you are at. If a claim is involved, have the insurer’s name to hand if you know it — that is usually the fastest thing to establish first.

Call (281) 484-8320 or go to policy service

360 FM 1959, Houston, TX77034. Texas Department of Insurance license #5595.

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