Adding or changing a nominee
A nomination tells the insurer who to pay when a claim arises. It is quick to do, free, and changeable as often as you like — and it is the single most common avoidable reason a death claim takes months instead of weeks.
The failure mode is almost always the same: a nomination made when the policy was bought and never revisited through a marriage, a divorce, a birth, or a death. The policy is fine; the instruction on it is out of date, and the family is left proving entitlement at the worst possible time.
When this applies
- The policy has no nominee registered, or the nominee named is no longer who you would want paid
- Your circumstances have changed — marriage, a child, a divorce, or the nominee’s own death
- You want to name more than one nominee, or set the share each receives
What is typically required
A starting point, not a definitive list — LIC's exact requirement can vary by branch and by the specifics of your policy. Confirm before you travel.
- A nomination or change-of-nomination form
- The policy document, for the endorsement to be recorded
- The nominee’s name, date of birth and relationship to you
- Where the nominee is a minor, an appointee — an adult who receives on the minor’s behalf
The order to do it in
- 1Complete the change-of-nomination form for the policy
- 2Submit it to the servicing branch, with the policy document if an endorsement is required
- 3LIC records the change and endorses it — ask for confirmation, and check the name is spelled as it appears on the nominee’s own identity documents
- 4Keep the confirmation with the policy, and tell the nominee the policy exists
What has to go through LIC directly
A nomination is only effective once LIC has registered it. A form filled in and left in a drawer, or a wish expressed in a will, does not change who the insurer pays. This has to be lodged with LIC.
Watch out for
- Check every policy, not just the newest one. People change the nomination on a recent policy and leave a twenty-year-old one pointing at someone from another life.
- A spelling mismatch between the nomination and the nominee’s identity documents causes exactly the delay that nominating was supposed to prevent.
- Tell the nominee the policy exists and where the document is. A correctly nominated policy nobody knows about still goes unclaimed.
Common questions
- Can I change the nominee on my LIC policy after it is issued?
- Yes, and as many times as you need to. A nomination is not fixed at the time of purchase — submit a change-of-nomination form to the servicing branch and LIC records the change. There is no charge for it.
- Can I name a minor child as nominee?
- Yes, but you must also name an appointee — an adult who receives the claim amount on the child’s behalf if the claim arises while the child is still a minor. A nomination naming a minor with no appointee is the kind of gap that surfaces only when the claim is filed.
- Does a will override the nomination on my policy?
- Do not rely on it. The insurer pays according to the nomination registered with it, and a conflict between a will and a nomination is resolved slowly and sometimes in court. If you want a different outcome, change the nomination itself rather than assuming a will will do the work.
Related
Need this done rather than explained?
Full servicing assistance — preparing the paperwork, following it up with the branch, and chasing it to completion — is for policies bought or serviced through KNATRA. If your policy is with another agent or was bought directly from LIC, everything on this page still applies to you, and you are welcome to ask for help with a specific case.