Life Insurance Claims Process and Requirements

On behalf of MetLife, please accept our sincerest condolences during this difficult time. To help make the process of filing a life insurance claim as simple as possible, we’ve created a claim kit and process summary to help you through this process.

To submit a life insurance claim, please download the life insurance claim kit. We created the kit to guide you through the process. There are two claim kits to choose from depending on who’s the named beneficiary for the policy(ies):

1. Individual beneficiary claim kit – Choose this one if you’re the named beneficiary of the policy (i.e. John Smith).

2. Trust/entity claim kit – Choose this one if you’re claiming the proceeds on behalf of an estate, a trust or a company.

Please be sure to review the kit in its entirety, as it provides valuable information. You’ll need to complete the claim form within the kit and return it to MetLife, along with the death certificate and any other required documents as outlined in the kit.

If you’re completing an individual claim form, you’ll need to fill out personal details about you and the insured, such as:

  • Full name
  • Address
  • Date of birth
  • Social security number
  • Your relationship to the insured
  • Insurance policy number(s) you’re making a claim on; if you don’t know the policy number, you may search for it using our policy finder at metlife.com/policyfinder/

If you’re completing a trust/entity claim form, you’ll need to fill out personal details for the insured as described above AND information about the trust/entity, such as:

  • Full name of estate/trust/entity
  • Your relationship to the estate/trust/entity (i.e. executor, trustee, CEO)
  • Address for the estate/trust/entity
  • Date trust established (if claiming on behalf of a trust)
  • Tax identification number for trust/estate/entity
  • Insurance policy number(s) you’re making a claim on; if you don’t know the policy number, you may search for it using our policy finder at metlife.com/policyfinder/
  • Documentation of your authorized representation for the trust/estate/entity

If the policy(ies) you’re claiming is (are) less than $100,000 OR the original/certified death certificate is already on file from another beneficiary, you can submit your claim and documents by:

Yes, you can. Once we receive the documents, you can call our customer service team at 1-800-638-5000 for updates. If you’re filing as an individual beneficiary, we can also send you status updates via email or text if you selected one of these options when completing the claim kit. Otherwise, we’ll automatically notify you by mail of your payment status or if we need more information from you.

Once we receive your claim, we’ll review everything within 5 business days and respond to your claim within 10 business days if we need more information from you.

Each beneficiary needs to submit a claim kit in order to get paid. We’ll pay each beneficiary their proceeds separately as we receive the required claim documents from each of them. We don’t require all beneficiaries to make a claim before making payment to each individual.

Once we approve your claim, you can receive your funds in two ways. 

1.Deposit funds into a interest bearing, no fee MetLife Total Control Account.* With a Total Control Account you also have the option of receiving a debit card that's accepted anywhere Visa is accepted. To learn more about this option please visit, MetLifeRetailTCA.MetLife.com.

2. Receive a check via USPS within 5 business days. Please note mail delivery times may vary.

We recognize this may be a difficult time for you and we’re here to help. Please call us at 1-800-638-5000 with any questions or concerns you may have. We’re available Monday through Friday, from 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Eastern time.

* Total Control Account® is a registered service mark of Metropolitan Life Insurance Company. Special services fees may apply only for the following: draft copies ($2), stop payment of drafts ($10), overdrawn TCA ($15), and overnight delivery service ($25).