The Hartford Enhances Group Life Coverage

According to a press release, beneficiaries who use Everest Funeral Planning, a service available to consumers who obtain The Hartford’s group life insurance through their employers, can receive death benefits in as little as 48 hours from the date of death. In this new process, The Hartford will accept a certificate of death from a funeral home in lieu of a traditional death certificate, which speeds up the payment of death benefits by several weeks.   

The new expedited death benefits payment process is offered through The Hartford’s Life Conversations, a suite of end-of-life resources that includes funeral planning, will preparation, estate planning, as well as emotional, financial, and legal support services to beneficiaries. Operating out of a call center that is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, Everest’s trained advisers take beneficiaries through the process of planning a funeral and filing a life insurance claim, including the availability of Life Conversations Express Pay.   

The death benefit can be expedited in instances where the insured died from natural causes, such as an illness, and the cause of death does not need to be investigated. At the beneficiary’s request, the death benefit proceeds can be placed into a Safe Haven account created for the beneficiary, and then a draftbook (similar to a checkbook) is mailed overnight to allow immediate access to funds.   

Everest’s advisers can negotiate funeral costs on behalf of the bereaved which can result in $1,250 to $5,500 in savings per funeral, based on the average saving realized by Everest consumers, according to the announcement.