What to do when a Regional Finance account holder dies

No. An installment loan is a debt, not an asset, so there is no payable-on-death or beneficiary designation. When the borrower dies, the balance becomes an obligation of the estate, which resolves it by paying the payoff amount through the local branch. If the borrower bought optional credit life insurance at closing, a covered death may pay off or reduce the balance through an insurance claim, but that is a coverage benefit, not an account beneficiary.

Call Regional Finance Customer Support at 1-844-303-3980 (Monday-Friday 8:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m. ET), or contact the borrower's local branch through the branch locator or the local-branch line at 1-888-636-3535. Have the death certificate and loan account number ready. Regional does not communicate account information by email, so written notices and documents are handled at the branch or mailed to Regional Management Corp., 979 Batesville Road, Suite B, Greer, SC 29651.

Regional Finance offers optional Credit Life, Disability, Involuntary Unemployment, and Personal Property insurance at loan closing. If the borrower purchased Credit Life coverage, a covered death may pay off or reduce the loan balance. To file a claim, contact Customer Support at 1-844-303-3980, or initiate a claim directly with the insurance carrier, Securian, at 1-800-328-9442 or securian.com/benefits/ssl/home.do. Check the borrower's loan-closing documents (the certificate of insurance) to confirm whether coverage was purchased.

On an auto-secured loan, Regional Finance holds a security interest in the vehicle until the loan is paid. After the borrower's death the loan is a debt of the estate; the estate can pay the payoff amount at the local branch to release the lien and retitle or sell the vehicle, keep the payments current, or surrender the collateral. Payments should be kept current in the meantime, because the vehicle can be repossessed if the account falls behind.

Have the death certificate for the deceased borrower and the loan account number ready. To establish authority over the estate, Regional may require Letters of Testamentary or Letters of Administration (certified court-issued documents identifying the estate representative) or a small estate affidavit, which is used when the estate's total assets fall under the dollar limit set by state statute. If filing a credit-insurance claim, also gather the certificate of insurance from loan closing.

Regional Finance is not a bank; it is a branch-based consumer finance company owned and operated by its parent, Regional Management Corp., headquartered in Greer, South Carolina. Regional originates and services its own personal, retail, and auto-secured installment loans, so there is no separate issuing bank in the deceased-borrower process — the estate deals directly with Regional through the borrower's local branch and Customer Support.