Many life insurance companies operate responsibly. Yet others search for alleged reasons not to pay benefits on valid claims. Clearly, denying death benefits can save insurance companies money.
Many insurers have found countless ways to deny paying out insurance proceeds. They hope to get away with it, betting on beneficiaries not believing they can win the fight.
In our experience and in cases across the U.S., life insurance companies have unfairly dealt with claimants by distorting facts, disregarding medical and postmortem findings, and otherwise creating unfounded reasons to withhold death benefits.
This is particularly true during a policy’s period of contestability. This is the period of time when an insurance company may rightfully cancel a policy if it finds relevant misrepresentations or mistakes in the application.
Our attorneys help individuals across the U.S. in their fight against unfair life insurance claim denial.
Why Are Life Insurance Claims Denied?
As a rule, the most common reasons why life insurance claims may be investigated and declined include:
- Material misrepresentation on the policy application
- The death was caused by suicide
- Failure to pay premiums, which if untended will lead to expired policies and lapse of coverage
- Claims not filed within appropriate timelines
- Claims are not covered by the policy
All Kinds of Tactics for Life Insurance Claim Denial
Insurers may resort to further excuses in order to deny benefits or rescind a life insurance policy:
- Misspelling the name or misstating the age or gender, or marital status of the deceased;
- Suspicious cause of death;
- In Accidental Death policies and some life insurance policies where only the accidental death of the insured is covered, the insurer claims the death was not “accidental;”
- Misuse of exclusions in life insurance and accidental death policies;
- Claim of forged signature on insurance application;
- Independent medical examination disfavors previous evidence gathered by treating physician or coroner;
- Pre-existing or undisclosed medical conditions, such as failing to mention previous treatment for a separate condition, totally unrelated to the claimant’s death;
- Denials often come down to interpretation of ambiguous and complex policy language.
Insurers may try other ways to bully the beneficiary with scare tactics or to misconstrue the deceased’s information. Such tactics include alleging the decedent forgot to include a past condition or twisting facts in the deceased’s health records. To discourage beneficiaries from appealing a denied claim, insurers have resorted to sending overly confusing or accusing letters.
You Have Options
Don’t let the insurance company get away with another questionable or fraudulent denial. When you are wrongly delayed or denied benefits, you have options and the law working for you.
- Our attorneys will review you case and determine if you have cause for legal action to recover your life insurance payout.
- We will know the proper and effective way to appeal the denial. We will do so with extensive knowledge of law and the experience essential in life insurance claim disputes. In many cases, this must be done in a formal appeal through the insurers’ complex internal appeals process.
- Our law firm handles life insurance cases on contingency basis. That means you do not pay any attorney’s fees unless we are able to secure the benefits you deserve.
We have seen all of these excuses to deny life insurance benefits, and more.
Get Help from a Denied Life Insurance Claim Lawyer
The life insurance claim attorneys of Marc Whitehead & Associates represent insureds and beneficiaries in life insurance claim disputes. When an insurance company wrongly delays or flat out refuses to pay a life insurance claim, the beneficiaries can suffer serious consequences.
Unforeseen death can cripple a family. Anguish over a loved one’s passing is intensified by the actions of an insurer that wrongfully denies a claim. What options do you have if you have been denied life insurance benefits? What do you do when the funds you were counting on are withheld?
These are all important questions, and qualified legal help is one phone call away.
At Marc Whitehead & Associates, our denied life insurance claim lawyer team deals with insurance companies on a daily basis. For prompt and compassionate help with life insurance claim denial, call us toll free at 800-562-9830. Wherever you live in the U.S., our life insurance attorneys are prepared to review your case.