In one of our most recent cases, our life insurance lawyers were successful in collecting life insurance money for our client who was denied benefits on her deceased husband's group life insurance policy. Our client called our office in despair. Not only was she still grieving the death of her husband of 15 years, but she also had to fight a large insurance company over the denial of benefits.
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At the time of his death our client's husband had life insurance coverage provided to him by his employer. He applied for $250,000 of basic life insurance coverage in November 2011. As part of the routine procedure the insurer requested him to provide evidence of insurability. After he complied with the request, the policy was issued for $250,000 and became effective on December 1, 2011. Three weeks later the insured decided to increase his coverage to $350,000 by adding optional supplemental insurance coverage. Again, he filled out all the necessary paperwork that was provided to him by the HR of his company. He was approved for the increase. However, at this time, neither the HR nor the insurer informed our client that he needed to provide another evidence of insurability form. The insurer increased the premium and our client's husband paid the increased premium up until he died suddenly in a car accident in July 2013.
When our client filed a claim for benefits, she was informed that she was entitled only to the original $250,000 of basic life insurance coverage. The insurer claimed that the decedent failed to provide a second insurability form and was, therefore, ineligible for the optional supplemental insurance coverage of $100,000. Thus, in spite of charging the increased premium for months, and not requiring evidence of insurability the second time, the insurer denied $100,000 in optional supplemental benefits to our client. Our life insurance attorneys were successful in recovering additional $100,000 for our client in a short period of time.
An Evidence of Insurability form (proof of good health) is usually required when an applicant is applying for group life insurance and the application does not contain medical questions. The insurer uses the information on the form to determine whether to approve or deny coverage. An applicant will be informed if evidence of insurability is required. However, if the insurer does not ask the applicant to fill out an insurability form, approves him/her for coverage and starts charging a higher premium, it cannot deny coverage after the insured's death. If your group life insurance claim has been denied for any reasons, call us for a free consultation. We have helped hundreds of clients recover their insurance money. We have the skill, expertise and experience you can trust.
We pride ourselves in working closely with our clients and informing them of all the developments in the case. Our life insurance attorneys handle most life insurance claim delays and denials on a contingent fee basis – it means we do not get paid unless we recover the proceeds for you.