John, an experienced skydiver, died when he did not deploy his parachute during a group jump. His children, Mikchele and Cindy, filed the claim for $400, 000 in death benefits from his life insurance company. The life insurance company denied their claim, because the policy had a clause that excluded death resulting from descent from an aircraft while in flight. The daughters disagreed and claimed that their father's death occurred during descent from an aircraft, not as a result of it. Therefore, his death was not causally related to descent from an airplane in flight. Read about accidental death benefit denied
This case was filed a lawsuit in federal court with the allegation that John died from some other cause after he stepped out of the airplane. The lawsuit against the life insurance company claims that John did not make any motions or sounds or communicated with other jumpers during the jump. He simply plunged downward back first, his legs and arms toward the sky.
The life insurance company will need to prove that his death resulted from descent from an aircraft and not any other reason. The difficulty of this case is that an autopsy cannot be done because John's body hit the ground with great force.
Even cases where it may seem that there is only one result – denial of a life insurance claim – may be won in court with the help of an experienced life insurance lawyer. If your life insurance claim has been denied, contact our life insurance lawyers as soon as possible. We have recovered the full policy amount in 100% of our cases. We have helped thousands of clients whose life insurance claims were denied to get the death benefits to which they were entitled. Call or email us today. The consultation is free.