Thousands of life insurance claims are denied each year by companies that say the policy application misrepresents facts about your loved one. The news media report that the amount of money denied to beneficiaries has doubled in the past decade.
Yearly Archives: 2016
Policyholders purchase life insurance to ensure their loved ones have a comfortable life after they pass away. They would be shocked to find out the claim was denied and their loved ones couldn’t make house payments on time or afford basic health care.
Before your loved one passed away, he or she decided to purchase a life insurance policy to ensure you wouldn’t be burdened with large debt and that you would have a promising future.
When a loved one passes away, the last thing you need is the hassle of a contested life insurance claim. Many times, your loved one has purchased life insurance to help defray the costs associated with an expensive burial and funeral, and you need the money immediately.
When a life insurance claim is denied and the appeal is also denied, your next step is engaging in a life insurance claim lawsuit.
Filing a life insurance claim after your loved one passes away isn’t always simple. Once you’ve worked through the system and lodged a claim with the insurance company, there’s still a chance it will be denied.
The rise in prescription drug use in the United States has had a direct impact on life insurance claims. The Center for Disease Control recently released figures, from May 8, 2013, that indicate that over 22,000 deaths occur from pharmaceutical drugs each year, of which over 16,500 are related to opioid analgesic overdoses.
In assessing life insurance claims, insurers routinely use “independent” or “outside” consultants to substantiate their positions. When litigation arises, discovery into these individuals typically centers on their compensation. Trief & Olk recently had success arguing that beyond plain compensation figures, the number of claims reviewed and subsequent denial statistics were integral in evaluating potential biases.
In Firestone Tire & Rubber Co. v. Bruch, the Supreme Court set forth a rubric controlling judicial review of ERISA benefit eligibility decisions. Under Firestone, courts are to be guided by principles of trust law in evaluating the conclusions of plan administrators. These principles of trust law require courts to review a denial of plan benefits under a “de novo” standard unless the plan provides to the contrary.
In the states of New York, New Jersey, and Massachusetts, insurance companies have two years from the date a life insurance policy is issued to contest its validity. This “contestability” period affords insurers the opportunity to investigate any potential misrepresentations on the insured’s policy application.
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