What to do when a Bankers Fidelity account holder dies
Contact Bankers Fidelity — 8-step process, 11 required documents, and bankers fidelity does not publish a claim-payment service standard. claims within the policy's first two years fall inside the contestability period and require physician and authorization forms, which extends review; accident, suicide, or homicide deaths additionally require a police report, and a death outside the united states adds the foreign death questionnaire.
Policyholder Services
Bankers Fidelity Life Insurance Company, Attn: Policyholder Services, 4370 Peachtree Road NE, Atlanta, GA 30319
Policyholder Services
Bankers Fidelity Life Insurance Company, Attn: Policyholder Services, 4370 Peachtree Road NE, Atlanta, GA 30319
Claims Department (Policyholder Claim Inquiries)
Bankers Fidelity Life Insurance Company, Attn: Claims Department, 4370 Peachtree Road NE, Atlanta, GA 30319
Filing a death claim on a Bankers Fidelity policy begins with notifying the Claims Department (Policyholder Claim Inquiries) at 1-866-458-7499. Life insurance claims are separate from probate—proceeds transfer directly to named beneficiaries regardless of whether the estate goes through court. The timeline and documentation requirements depend on the policy type and cause of death.
To start a claim, contact Bankers Fidelity by phone at 1-866-458-7499 or email documentation to claims@bflic.com. You will need the account holder's full name, account numbers, and a certified death certificate.
Death claim process
The death claim process at Bankers Fidelity works as follows:
Filing a claim
- Download it from bankersfidelity.com/find/
- Or request it by phone at 866-458-7499
- Certified death certificate, and a copy of the obituary if available
- Physician and Authorization forms if death occurred within the policy's first two years (the contestability period)
- Police report if death resulted from an accident, suicide, or homicide
- For an estate or trust: Letters Testamentary or Letters of Administration plus a copy of the trust documents
- For a minor beneficiary: birth certificate and probate-court guardianship documents
- For a death outside the United States: the Foreign Death Questionnaire (BFL CF-FDQ)
- Email to claims@bflic.com
- Or mail to Bankers Fidelity Life Insurance Company, Attn: Claims Department, 4370 Peachtree Road NE, Atlanta, GA 30319
Required Documents
- Completed Life Claim Form (BFL CF-LIFE, rev 6-26), signed by the beneficiary or trustee
- Certified death certificate
- Copy of the obituary (if available)
- Policy number, date of birth, date of death, and manner of death for the insured
- Physician and Authorization forms (only if death occurred within the two-year contestability period)
- Police report (only if death resulted from an accident, suicide, or homicide)
- Death certificate or obituary of the named beneficiary (if that beneficiary predeceased the insured)
- Funeral home assignment form (if proceeds are assigned to a funeral home)
- For an estate or trust beneficiary: Letters Testamentary, Letters of Administration, or other qualifying probate-court documents, plus a copy of the trust documents
- For a minor beneficiary: birth certificate and probate-court guardianship documents
- Foreign Death Questionnaire (BFL CF-FDQ) if the insured died outside the United States
Claims Contact
What to know at this institution
The Life Insurance Claim Package was reissued in June 2026 (BFL-CF-LIFE-PKG-6-26); the checklist page carries the designation BFL CF-LIFE CHKLST (6-26) and the claim form itself BFL CF-LIFE (6-26). Two facts in the package are easy to miss. First, a trust-beneficiary claim is not satisfied by the trust document alone -- the checklist requires Letters Testamentary, Letters of Administration, or other qualifying probate-court documents for any claim paid to an estate OR a trust, plus the trust documents. Second, submission moved to claims@bflic.com; claim questions during the process go to Ancillaryclaims@bflic.com, while the contactus page and the Home Office contact sheet (BFL MKT FLY 0643, rev 1-24) still publish claimsservices@bflic.com for Claim Services. The published claims fax is 404-926-4036 (Policyholder Services fax is 404-926-4033). The forms page at bankersfidelity.com/find/ carries separate 2026 claim packages for short-term care, critical illness/cancer, hospital, disability, accident (on-the-job and off-the-job), life waiver of premium, and wellness benefits -- none of those products carries a death benefit. There is no online claim portal: the package is downloaded, completed, and returned by email or mail.
Prepare your letter of instruction to Bankers Fidelity
Bankers Fidelity provides its own letter-of-instruction form. Answer a few questions and we complete that official form for you to print and sign.
Build your letter of instructionProcessing timelines at Bankers Fidelity: Bankers Fidelity does not publish a claim-payment service standard. Claims within the policy's first two years fall inside the contestability period and require Physician and Authorization forms, which extends review; accident, suicide, or homicide deaths additionally require a police report, and a death outside the United States adds the Foreign Death Questionnaire. Incomplete documentation is the most common cause of delays—submitting all required documents with the initial claim helps avoid additional processing time.
Bankers Fidelity requires several documents to process a claim, including Completed Life Claim Form (BFL CF-LIFE, rev 6-26), signed by the beneficiary or trustee, Certified death certificate, and Copy of the obituary (if available), and additional documentation depending on the account type. Certified copies are typically needed—photocopies are generally not accepted for death certificates or court documents.
Frequently asked questions
Yes. An ILIT can own a Bankers Fidelity life insurance policy, removing the death benefit from the grantor's taxable estate. Bankers Fidelity does not publish a separate assignment-of-ownership form -- ownership is transferred to the ILIT using Section 2, Ownership Change, of the Change Form (B 0136 CF). The trust can own the policy from inception, or an existing policy can be assigned to it. Transferring an existing policy is subject to the three-year lookback rule under IRC Section 2035, and the grantor permanently relinquishes control. Bankers Fidelity does not establish ILITs; work with an estate attorney to create one.
Bankers Fidelity's Life Insurance Claim Package (BFL CF-LIFE, rev 6-26) requires more than the trust document for a trust-beneficiary claim. The trustee submits the signed Life Claim Form -- its Trustee block captures the trustee name, the tax ID of the trustee, and the trust agreement date -- a certified death certificate, and, because the proceeds are being paid to a trust or estate, Letters Testamentary, Letters of Administration, or other qualifying probate-court documents, plus a copy of the trust documents. A police report is required if the death involved an accident, suicide, or homicide, and Physician and Authorization forms if death occurred within the policy's first two years. Return the package by email to claims@bflic.com or by mail to Attn: Claims Department, 4370 Peachtree Road NE, Atlanta, GA 30319; the claims line is 866-458-7499.
Yes. Bankers Fidelity publishes a Foreign Death Questionnaire (form BFL CF-FDQ) that is filed alongside the Life Insurance Claim Package when the insured died outside the United States. It asks for the deceased's last U.S. address, citizenship, the date they left the country, the intended duration and itinerary of the trip, the purpose of the trip, travel companions, and whether a travel agent was used. The questionnaire is returned to 4370 Peachtree Rd NE, Atlanta, GA 30319, by email to claims@atlam.com, or by fax to 404-926-4036. A foreign death certificate still has to be provided; expect the claim to take longer than a domestic one.
No. Medicare supplement insurance, Vantage Care cancer insurance, Vantage Flex Plus hospital indemnity insurance, and Vantage Recovery short-term care insurance cannot be retitled to a trust and do not support naming a trust as beneficiary. These policies pay benefits to the insured during their lifetime and have no transferable death benefit -- coverage terminates at death. Only Bankers Fidelity life insurance policies (Vantage Secure final expense, term, and ordinary whole life) support trust beneficiary designations or ILIT ownership.
Bankers Fidelity's Claims Department (Policyholder Claim Inquiries) can be reached by phone at 1-866-458-7499, email at claims@bflic.com, and fax at 1-404-926-4036 for questions throughout the claims process.
If the deceased held multiple Bankers Fidelity policies, each may require a separate claim or have different documentation requirements. The Claims Department (Policyholder Claim Inquiries) can confirm which accounts require individual attention and which can be processed together.
Sources
Data sourced from Bankers Fidelity primary sources (19 pages reviewed). How we research.
Policyholder Services
Bankers Fidelity Life Insurance Company, Attn: Policyholder Services, 4370 Peachtree Road NE, Atlanta, GA 30319
Policyholder Services
Bankers Fidelity Life Insurance Company, Attn: Policyholder Services, 4370 Peachtree Road NE, Atlanta, GA 30319
Claims Department (Policyholder Claim Inquiries)
Bankers Fidelity Life Insurance Company, Attn: Claims Department, 4370 Peachtree Road NE, Atlanta, GA 30319
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