What to do when a Pan-American Life account holder dies
Contact Pan-American Life's Empathy -- bereavement support for beneficiaries of U.S. policies (provided at no cost) — 6-step process, 7 required documents, and timelines are not published by pan-american life. a claim inside the policy's two-year contestability period takes longer, because the carrier reviews the insured's medical history before paying.
Policyowner Services (Pan-American Life division)
Pan-American Life Insurance Company, P.O. Box 9060, Oak Brook, IL 60522-9807
Empathy -- bereavement support for beneficiaries of U.S. policies (provided at no cost)
Life Claims
Pan-American Life Insurance Company, P.O. Box 9060, Oak Brook, IL 60522-9807
When an insured person dies, the beneficiary or executor should contact Pan-American Life's Life Claims at 800-323-7320 to start the claims process. Insurance proceeds are paid directly to the named beneficiary and do not go through probate. How quickly the claim is processed depends on the policy type, documentation, and cause of death.
Pan-American Life offers an online claims portal that makes the initial filing process more straightforward. Survivors can also initiate claims by phone or by mailing documentation directly.
Death claim process
The death claim process at Pan-American Life works as follows:
Filing a claim
- Life policy: file at https://lifeclaims.palig.com/dashboard (Swiss Re-operated platform), call 800-323-7320, or email Lifeclaims@palig.com
- Accident or health policy: call the separate Accident & Health line at 877-569-3075
- Or contact the agent or broker who sold the policy
Required Documents
- Completed death claim form (from the Swiss Re claims portal, or requested from the claims team)
- Certified death certificate
- Government-issued ID for the claimant/beneficiary
- Policy number and the decedent's information
- Medical records, if the policy is within the two-year contestability period
- Trust documentation and trustee ID, if a trust is the beneficiary
- Court documents naming the executor or administrator, if the estate is the beneficiary
Claims Contact
What to know at this institution
Two things are specific to this carrier. First, the life claims intake is outsourced: beneficiaries file on a Swiss Re-operated platform at https://lifeclaims.palig.com/dashboard, and Pan-American Life explicitly notes on its Policy Service page that clicking through takes you off the PALIG site. The direct claims channels are 800-323-7320 and Lifeclaims@palig.com, which also handle accelerated death benefit and waiver of premium claims. Second, Pan-American Life offers Empathy to beneficiaries of U.S. policies at no cost -- a bereavement support service covering funeral planning, obituary writing, and managing the decedent's financial affairs. Accident and health claims are a separate division on a separate line, 877-569-3075. Correspondence and paper claim packages go to the Oak Brook, Illinois servicing office at P.O. Box 9060; do not send them to the New Orleans headquarters or to the Dallas premium lockboxes.
Prepare your letter of instruction to Pan-American Life
Pan-American Life asks for a letter of instruction alongside its claim form. We prepare a transmittal cover letter and the enclosure checklist Pan-American Life requires.
Build your letter of instructionExpected timelines at Pan-American Life: Timelines are not published by Pan-American Life. A claim inside the policy's two-year contestability period takes longer, because the carrier reviews the insured's medical history before paying. Delays are almost always caused by incomplete paperwork—gathering all required documents before filing the initial claim helps avoid back-and-forth.
Pan-American Life requires several documents to process a claim, including Completed death claim form (from the Swiss Re claims portal, or requested from the claims team), Certified death certificate, and Government-issued ID for the claimant/beneficiary, 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. Pan-American Life provides Empathy to beneficiaries of its U.S. policies at no cost -- a bereavement support service that helps families with the practical work that follows a death, including funeral planning, writing the obituary, and managing the decedent's financial affairs. It is separate from the insurance claim itself and does not affect the death benefit. Ask about it when you open the claim at 800-323-7320 or Lifeclaims@palig.com. This is worth knowing because much of the estate settlement work an executor faces -- notifying institutions, closing accounts, organizing paperwork -- falls outside what a life insurance claim covers.
Yes. An ILIT can own a Pan-American Life policy, removing the death benefit from the grantor's taxable estate. On the cash-value products (Horizon Legacy, Horizon Value, Horizon Guarantee, MTL Non-Par, and Vista Life) the ILIT then also controls the cash value component, so the grantor gives up access to policy loans and dividend withdrawals as well as the death benefit. The ILIT can purchase a new policy directly, or an existing policy can be assigned to it, subject to the three-year lookback under IRC Section 2035. Note that naming a trust as BENEFICIARY and transferring OWNERSHIP to an ILIT are two different forms at this carrier, and neither is available through the Online Policy Manager -- call Policyowner Services at 800-323-7320 or email LifePolicyownerServices@palig.com to request the assignment/ownership change form, and mail it to P.O. Box 9060, Oak Brook, IL 60522-9807. Pan-American Life does not set up ILITs; work with an estate attorney.
Horizon Legacy is built specifically for wealth transfer: a single premium immediately creates a leveraged death benefit (often roughly double the premium paid) that passes income-tax-free to beneficiaries under IRC Section 101(a). Because there are no surrender charges, the policyowner retains access to cash value through loans or dividend withdrawals during life. For families using the policy to leave a tax-free legacy or fund estate liquidity, ownership is commonly assigned to an ILIT so the death benefit is also excluded from the grantor's taxable estate. Existing-policy transfers to the ILIT are subject to the IRC Section 2035 three-year lookback. Call Pan-American Life at 800-323-7320 to request the assignment paperwork.
Life claims intake is outsourced. Beneficiaries of policies sold through the Pan-American Life division file at https://lifeclaims.palig.com/dashboard, a Swiss Re-operated claims platform -- Pan-American Life states on its Policy Service page that clicking through takes you off the PALIG site, so do not be alarmed when the domain changes. The same channel handles death benefits, accelerated death benefits, and waiver of premium. To go direct instead, call 800-323-7320 or email Lifeclaims@palig.com, and mail paper packages with a certified death certificate to P.O. Box 9060, Oak Brook, IL 60522-9807 (the Oak Brook servicing office -- not the New Orleans headquarters, and not the Dallas premium lockboxes). Accident and health policies are a separate division on a separate line, 877-569-3075. If the policy is within its two-year contestability period, the carrier reviews the insured's medical history before paying, which lengthens the claim.
Pan-American Life's Life Claims can be reached by phone at 800-323-7320 and email at Lifeclaims@palig.com for questions throughout the claims process.
When the deceased had multiple Pan-American Life policies, some may need separate claims while others can be handled together. The Life Claims can clarify what's needed for each account type.
Sources
Data sourced from Pan-American Life primary sources (17 pages reviewed). How we research.
Policyowner Services (Pan-American Life division)
Pan-American Life Insurance Company, P.O. Box 9060, Oak Brook, IL 60522-9807
Empathy -- bereavement support for beneficiaries of U.S. policies (provided at no cost)
Life Claims
Pan-American Life Insurance Company, P.O. Box 9060, Oak Brook, IL 60522-9807
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