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Hartford to Expedite Group Death Benefit Payments

By Staff Writer

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A life insurer will be working with a funeral services firm to pay some group life claims within 48 hours after the death of the insured.

The Simsbury, Conn., life unit of Hartford Financial Services Group Inc. (NYSE: HIG), Hartford, will use call center services from Everest Funeral Package L.L.C., Houston, to run the program.

Beneficiaries of insureds who have employer-sponsored group life coverage from Hartford will be able to submit a certificate of death from a funeral home in place of a government-issued death certificate. That change will speed the payment of death benefits by several weeks, Hartford says.

Expedited benefits will be available in cases in which the insured died from natural causes, such as an illness, and the cause of death does not need to be investigated, Hartford says.

The expedited death benefits payment feature is part of Hartford’s Life Conversations collection of end-of-life resources.

The package also includes funeral planning, will preparation, estate planning, bereavement support, financial advice and legal support services.