New York

212-486-6060

New Jersey

201-343-5770

  • Has Your Life Insurance Company Denied or Delayed Your Claim?

    We Have Taken on the Large Insurance Companies and Have Won on Our Client’s Behalf. Contact Us to Find Out if You Have a Claim. We Can Help.

Our Experienced Life Insurance Claim Denial Attorneys Stand By Ready to Help You

EXPERIENCED

Our life insurance attorneys have negotiated or litigated many different life insurance denial cases against major insurance companies.

STRATEGIC

Our team of attorneys are experienced at handling the complex litigation of life insurance cases.

COMMITTED

Our lawyer-to-case ratio is extremely high, assuring the degree of personal attention and thoroughness for which our firm is known.

If you have filed a life insurance claim and have been denied, or think you might be denied, we may be able to help you. The life insurance claims attorneys at Trief & Olk are experienced in life insurance law, terminology, applications, and practices. We will represent you aggressively in negotiations with your life insurance company and if they don’t agree to pay the benefits to which you are entitled, we will take them to court to prove your claim.

Notable Verdicts & Settlements

$1,500,000

Metropolitan Life Ins. Co. (summary judgement)

$675,000

Confidential Settlement

$500,000

Confidential Settlement

$250,000

Lincoln National Life Ins. Co. (jury verdict)

Ted Trief

Ted Trief received his J.D. from Rutgers University Law School, graduating with honors in 1976. He received his B.A. in 1973 from State University of New York at New Paltz. He is a former Assistant D.A.

Barbara Olk

Barbara Olk graduated from New York University Law School with a J.D. degree in June of 1976. Ms. Olk completed her B.A. degree in English and Political Science at the University of Rochester in 1973, where she was a member of Phi Beta Kappa.

Shelly L. Friedland

Shelly L. Friedland, who joined Trief & Olk in 2014 and became a partner in 2016, graduated cum laude from Harvard Law School, and received her B.A. in economics from Columbia University, graduating summa cum laude.

Stan Gutgarts

Stan Gutgarts received his J.D. from Fordham University School of Law in 2011, where he was a recipient of a full-tuition scholarship. Mr. Gutgarts is admitted to the New York and New Jersey Bars, as well as before the U.S. District Courts for the Southern, Eastern, and Western Districts of New York, and the District Court of New Jersey.

What Are The Reasons For A Life Insurance Claim Denial?

  • Lapse
  • Failing to reinstate    
  • Failing to disclose medical visit
  • Failure to disclose medical condition
  • Failure to timely pay premium
  • Failing to convert to individual policy
  • Failing to report life insurance coverage
  • Wrong age on application
  • Inaccurate income listed
  • Inaccurate weight listed
  • Competing beneficiaries
  • Criminal history discovered
  • Change in person’s job
  • Fired from person’s job
  • Employer didn’t forward records
  • Suicide exclusion
  • Self-inflicted injury exclusion
  • Illegal drug exclusion
  • Prescription drug exclusion
  • Use of alcohol exclusion
  • Sickness exclusion
  • Felony exclusion
  • Medical treatment
  • Foreign country fatality

Trending News

Don’t Lose Life Insurance Coverage When you Need it Most – When you are Gravely ill

For Life Insurance Policies in New York, Incontestable Means Incontestable

By statute, New York State has strictly limited the ability of insurers to contest the validity of a life insurance policy more than two years after the policy was issued (on grounds other than non-payment of premiums).
April 20, 2022/by Jacques Hart
calendar

Challenging Life Insurance Policy Cancellations Due to Non-payment, When Non-payment Is Attributable to Incapacitation

Trief & Olk’s life insurance attorneys frequently encounter scenarios where the insured has missed premium payments at the end of their life due to serious illness or other causes of incapacitation, leading to the policy lapsing – and leaving the beneficiaries without the proceeds the insured intended them to receive. 
April 5, 2022/by Jacques Hart
Buying and Selling Life Insurance Policies in New York

Why Your Life Insurance May Have Been Denied In New York

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.
September 21, 2021/by Jacques Hart
Life Insurance Policies with Vanishing Premiums – and Vanishing Policies

Trief & Olk Victorious on Appeal in $3 Million Life Insurance Case

UPDATED NOVEMBER 11, 2020: Trief & Olk defeated a second…
November 11, 2020/by Jacques Hart
New York Life Insurance Claim Lawyer

If You Want Your Children to Receive Your Life Insurance Proceeds, Designate Them as the Beneficiaries, Not a Romantic Partner, Friend, or Relative

How to Choose Your Beneficiary Whether You are Married or Unmarried
When…
August 12, 2020/by Jacques Hart
New York Life Insurance Claim Lawyer

Trief & Olk Files Fraud Case Against American Income Life Insurance Co.

Trief & Olk has filed a complaint on behalf of its client…
June 14, 2019/by Jacques Hart