How Do I Write a Letter of Instruction to Unum?

Send it to Unum's estate/claims department: The Benefits Center, P.O. Box 100158, Columbia, SC 29202-3158. You can reach the department at 1-800-445-0402.

Unum lists these among its required documents: Employer's Statement from the Group Life and/or Accidental Death Claim form (CL-1091), completed by the employer; Copy of the certified death certificate (CL-1091 states a photocopy or fax is acceptable); Copy of the original enrollment, current enrollment, and any coverage changes (electronic verification acceptable); Copy of the most recent beneficiary designation form (electronic verification acceptable). The prepared letter includes an enclosure checklist drawn from Unum's recorded requirements.

The claim clock starts with the employer, not the beneficiary: CL-1091 tells the employer to act "as soon as you receive notice of death," and the employer may open the claim with the Employer's Statement alone while the remaining documents follow. Beneficiary-side delays usually come from the signed Authorization and Substitute W-9, and from accidental-death evidence (autopsy and toxicology reports) on AD&D claims.

Unum 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.