It is common for the beneficiaries of a life insurance policy to have questions from the moment they are informed of their role. These are some basic points that help explain what it means.
What Does It Mean to Be the Beneficiary of Life Insurance?
Being the beneficiary of life insurance means receiving compensation in the cases provided for in the insured person’s policy. While this is the beneficiary’s main right, the beneficiary must also identify themselves to the issuing insurer so the entitlement can be verified.
Who Can Be Beneficiaries in a Life Insurance Policy?
As a general rule, beneficiaries are people who have a family, personal or economic link with the insured person. This means that a family relationship is not mandatory.
It is the insured person who chooses the beneficiaries. It is advisable to designate beneficiaries expressly, using their first name and surname, although they can also be designated generically, by indicating only the relationship.
What Is the Life Insurance Register?
Since the approval of Law 20/2005 of 14 November, on the creation of a Register of Life Insurance Contracts, the Ministry of Justice has managed a public list where interested parties can check whether the deceased had a life insurance policy. If so, beneficiaries can claim the compensation from the insurance company without risking losing it through lack of knowledge.
Certificate of Death Insurance Contracts
To obtain the information, once 15 days have passed since the death, a Certificate of Death Insurance Contracts must be requested from the register. It can be requested online, through the Electronic Office of the Ministry of Justice, by post, by completing form 790, or in person at the Central Citizen Service Office or a Territorial Office of the Ministry of Justice.
In short, the beneficiaries of life insurance are those who receive capital from the insured person in order to guarantee their financial peace of mind.