How Do I Write a Letter of Instruction to Physicians Mutual?

Send it to Physicians Mutual's estate/claims department: Physicians Life Insurance Company, Claims Services, PO Box 2018, Omaha, NE 68103-2018. You can reach the department at 1-800-228-9100.

Physicians Mutual lists these among its required documents: Completed Life Claim Information form (form L-SV-0049-AA, 0822B); Certified death certificate for the insured showing the cause and manner of death; Copy of the insured's obituary notice or newspaper clipping, if available; Assignment of benefits, if the policy was assigned (commonly to a funeral home on a final-expense policy). The prepared letter includes an enclosure checklist drawn from Physicians Mutual's recorded requirements.

Physicians Mutual does not publish a guaranteed turnaround; the claim form states that benefits are subject to final approval and that additional information may be requested. Claim status can be checked on the automated 24-hour line at 1-800-228-9100. Note that benefits are paid by check: the company states it does not offer direct deposit for benefit drafts. Guaranteed issue policies (Whole Life and Modified Whole Life) carry a limited benefit period during which a non-accidental death pays back premiums plus a percentage rather than the full face amount.

Physicians Mutual provides its own letter-of-instruction/claim form. We prepare a transmittal cover letter and an enclosure checklist to accompany that form.

It depends on the capacity you are acting in. An executor or administrator encloses Letters Testamentary (when there is a will) or Letters of Administration (when there is not); a successor trustee encloses a certificate of trust; a successor under a small estate encloses that state’s small estate affidavit. The prepared letter lists the proof-of-authority document for your role alongside the institution’s required documents.

A letter of instruction is the written request an institution asks for when settling a deceased customer’s account. It identifies the decedent and the account, states the capacity you are acting in, and tells the institution what to do with the account.