Bought Term Insurance? Here’s What Most People Forget to Do Next
You bought term insurance. Paid the premium. Got the policy document in your email. Maybe you even downloaded it.
Done?
Not even close.
Most people think buying term insurance is the finish line. It’s actually the starting line. What happens after you buy determines whether your family actually receives the money when they need it.
I see this pattern constantly. Someone spends weeks researching the best policy, comparing premiums, checking claim settlement ratios. They finally buy. Then they file the document somewhere and forget about it for 20 years.
When they die, their family doesn’t know the policy exists. Or they know it exists but can’t find it. Or they find it but the nominee is wrong. Or the policy lapsed because a premium was missed.
The insurance company doesn’t reject these claims. The families never file them.
Here are seven things you need to do after buying term insurance. Most people skip all of them.
Step 1: Read the Policy Document (Yes, Actually Read It)
Nobody reads insurance documents. They’re long, boring, full of legal language. I get it.
Read yours anyway. It takes 15 minutes and could save your family lakhs.
Verify the basics are correct: Sum assured, your date of birth, policy start and end date, premium amount and due dates. One typo in your birth date can delay a claim. If your sum assured shows Rs 50 lakhs when you bought Rs 1 crore, that’s a major problem.
Note the policy number. Write it down separately. Your family will need this number to file a claim.
Check nominee details: Name spelled correctly? Relationship accurate? If nominee is a minor, who’s the appointee?
Understand the exclusions. Every policy excludes certain causes of death: suicide within the first year (sometimes two years), hazardous activities like skydiving, war or nuclear events, death while committing a crime. If you do adventure sports, check if they’re covered.
Note the grace period. If you miss a premium, you typically have 30 days before the policy lapses. Know this number.
Find the claim process. Note the helpline number, website, and required documents. Share this with your nominee later.
Spending 15 minutes now means your family won’t spend weeks figuring out details during their worst time.
Step 2: Verify Nominee Is Correctly Registered
You named your spouse as nominee when you bought the policy. Are you sure it registered correctly?
Log into your insurer’s portal. Find your policy details. Check the nominee section.
Verify:
- Name is spelled correctly
- Relationship is accurate
- Date of birth is correct
- Contact details are current
Small errors matter. I’ve seen claims delayed because the nominee’s name in the system was “Priya Sharma” but her ID says “Priya S. Sharma.” Technically the same person. Still caused problems.
If the nominee is a minor (under 18), check that you’ve named an appointee. The appointee manages the money until the minor becomes an adult. If you named your 5-year-old child as nominee but didn’t name an appointee, update this immediately.
If anything is wrong, fix it now. Most insurers let you update nominee details online. Some require a physical form. Either way, do it today while you remember.
For a complete guide on nominee rules, read When and How to Update Your Nominees.
Step 3: Tell Your Nominee About the Policy
This is the most important step. It’s also the one almost everyone skips.
Your spouse needs to know:
- You have term insurance
- Which company
- Policy number
- Sum assured
- Where to find the document
- How to file a claim
This isn’t a five-page handover document. It’s a five-minute conversation.
Sit down with your spouse tonight. Say:
“I have term insurance with [Insurer Name]. The policy number is [X]. If something happens to me, the coverage is Rs [X] crore. The document is saved in [location]. To file a claim, call [helpline number] or visit [website]. You’ll need our marriage certificate, my death certificate, and this policy document.”
That’s it. Five minutes.
Don’t just forward the policy email and assume they’ll figure it out. They won’t. When someone dies, their family isn’t calmly reading through emails. They’re grieving, handling funeral arrangements, dealing with relatives, probably in shock.
The information needs to be in their head, not just their inbox.
If you’re uncomfortable talking about death (most people are), frame it as paperwork: “I’m organizing our finances. Let me show you where the important stuff is.”
Here’s what your spouse needs to know about the term insurance claim process.
Step 4: Store the Policy Document Properly
Where is your policy document right now?
If the answer is “somewhere in my email,” that’s not good enough.
When you die, your family won’t have access to your email. They won’t know your password. Even if they can guess it, two-factor authentication blocks them.
Here’s how to store your policy document so your family can actually find it.
Physical copy:
- Print the policy document
- Keep it in a folder with other important documents
- Store the folder somewhere accessible (not a bank locker)
- Tell your spouse exactly where it is
Why not a bank locker? Because accessing a deceased person’s bank locker requires legal paperwork. Your family can’t get the insurance document they need to file a claim without going through a process that takes weeks or months. Circular problem.
Digital copy:
- Save to a cloud folder your spouse has access to (shared Google Drive, family Dropbox)
- Email a copy to your spouse with subject line: “IMPORTANT - Term Insurance Policy”
- Keep a copy on a shared family device
The key is redundancy. Multiple copies in multiple places. Your spouse should be able to find this document without needing your help or your passwords.
Related: “My Family Knows Where Everything Is” (They Don’t)
Step 5: Set Premium Reminders
Your policy is only valid if premiums are paid. Miss a payment, and after the grace period (usually 30 days), your policy lapses. All those years of premiums? Wasted.
This happens more often than you’d think. Someone pays premiums for 15 years. Misses one payment because they changed banks or forgot. Policy lapses. Six months later, they die. Family gets nothing.
Enable auto-debit. Most insurers offer this. Link your policy to a bank account. Use an account you won’t close and keep sufficient balance around premium dates.
Set calendar reminders. Even with auto-debit, set a reminder one week before your premium due date. Verify the debit happened.
Update contact information. If your phone number or email changes, update it with the insurer. They send premium reminders. If those go to an old number, you won’t get the warning.
Consider annual payment. Easier to track than monthly. Most insurers offer a small discount too.
The goal: make it impossible to accidentally let your policy lapse.
Step 6: Organize Supporting Documents
When your family files a claim, they’ll need more than just the policy document.
Keep these documents together with your policy:
Medical test reports from application. If the insurer questions anything during the claim, these prove you disclosed your health status accurately.
Premium payment receipts. These prove the policy was active.
Any communication with the insurer. Emails, acknowledgments, reference numbers from phone calls.
Nominee update acknowledgments. If you ever changed your nominee, keep the proof.
Your ID documents. Copies of your Aadhaar, PAN, and other IDs.
All of this should be in one place. Physical folder or digital folder. Clearly labeled. Accessible to your spouse without needing your passwords.
Step 7: Schedule Annual Review
Your life changes. Your insurance should change with it.
Set a calendar reminder to review your term insurance every year. Same date, every year. Maybe your birthday.
During the annual review, check:
Is the coverage still adequate? If your sum assured is less than 10x your current annual income, you’re probably underinsured.
Is the nominee still correct? Life events that should trigger updates: marriage, divorce, birth of a child, death of current nominee. If you got married after buying the policy and your mother is still the nominee, update it. Read more about nominee vs legal heir to understand why this matters.
Is the policy still active? Log into the insurer portal. Confirm the status, next premium due date, and your contact details.
Have your contact details changed? New phone number? New email? Update with the insurer.
Changed jobs recently? Some people have group term insurance through their employer. If you switched jobs, that coverage might be gone.
Annual review takes 15 minutes. It ensures your insurance actually works when needed.
The Uncomfortable Conversation Script
Most people never have “the talk” with their spouse about life insurance. It feels morbid. Like you’re inviting bad luck.
But not having this conversation is what actually invites bad luck.
Here’s a simple script. Takes 60 seconds:
“I have term insurance with [Company Name]. The policy number is [X]. If something happens to me, the payout is Rs [X] crore. The document is [physical location] and also in [digital location]. To claim, call [number] or go to [website]. You’ll need the death certificate, our marriage certificate, and the policy document. The nominee is you. Premium is on auto-debit from [bank].”
That’s it. Under two minutes. Infinitely better than silence.
The 73% Problem
Here’s a statistic that should concern you.
According to IRDAI data, approximately 73% of families don’t know about life insurance policies held by the deceased. The money sits there, unclaimed, while families struggle financially.
Unclaimed life insurance in India runs into thousands of crores. That’s money that was meant to protect families, sitting unused because nobody knew to file a claim.
Your policy is useless if your family can’t find it. Your coverage is meaningless if nobody knows it exists.
The seven steps I’ve outlined aren’t complicated. They don’t require financial expertise. They just require 30 minutes of your time and one slightly awkward conversation.
What to Do This Week
Don’t bookmark this and forget about it. Here’s what to do in the next seven days.
Today (15 minutes): Read your policy document. Note the policy number, sum assured, premium due date, and nominee details. If anything is wrong, flag it for correction.
Tomorrow (10 minutes): Log into your insurer’s portal. Verify nominee details are correct. If they’re wrong, start the update process.
This weekend (30 minutes): Have the conversation with your spouse. Show them where the policy document is stored. Walk them through the basics.
Before next week ends (15 minutes): Set up auto-debit if you haven’t already. Set calendar reminders for premium due dates and annual review.
This month: Organize all insurance-related documents in one accessible location. Physical and digital copies. Accessible to your spouse.
Buying term insurance is the responsible thing to do. Making sure your family can actually use it is what makes it meaningful.
Most people do the first part. Few do the second. That’s why families miss out on crores of rupees every year.
You’ve read this far. That puts you ahead of 90% of policyholders. Now actually do the steps.
This is exactly why we built Anshin. You bought the insurance. Now you need to make sure your family knows where to find it, how to claim it, and what to do. Anshin stores all your financial information in one place and shares it with people you trust. When something happens to you, they have immediate access to everything they need.
No hunting through emails. No guessing passwords. No wondering if a policy exists.