Slow payment process

My father had a policy with Old mutual and he had my mother as the beneficiary. He passed away this year in June and my mother shortly after in July before she could claim the death benefit. Therefore we as the children had to create an estate account. We app**** for a claim in July but the money has not been processed yet. Does it usually take longer than 5 months to process? I am a student struggling to pay my accommodation fees and I will only qualify for my bursary next year. Your company really needs to sort this issue out. I would like to know, does it usually take this long or is there something wrong?