Life insurance is supposed to cover you as the beneficiary against the risk of not having financial means after the insured's death. What happens when you are wrongfully denied a legitimate claim by your insurance company? This is a frequently asked question that many people are left pondering over after they have been victimized. It is not enough just to think about the question and do nothing. You need to make efforts to follow up the claim as you are legally entitled to it. Our life insurance attorneys are here to help.
Read about life insurance case law
With the help of an experienced life insurance lawyer, you can file a claim of breach of contract by the insurer. Similar scenarios amount to bad faith which is not only unethical, but is also illegal for the insurance company. After the insured's death, you are supposed to notify the company and file a claim. After all the other legal undertakings have been finalized and the claim found to be genuine, the compensation is supposed to be prompt. The whole process of claim verification should not take unnecessarily too long. Within 30 days of notification, the payment is supposed to have been closed.
The law protects beneficiaries from many delay tactics which fall under bad insurance practices. Be duly guided that you should not settle for anything less than what is contained in the agreement. Neither should the administering of the claim be delayed. In some cases, some insurance companies will try to evade meeting their full part of the bargain. By the insurer agreeing to pay the claim, it is a sure sign that it is a justifiable one. Any offer to meet a fraction of the whole portion accompanied by flimsy reasons to irrationalize the claim shows there is something fishy about the company.
Most clients to the insurance companies are unfamiliar with the ins and outs of this industry. This fact tends to kill their confidence in pursing the matter to its full course. With the assistance of a life insurance attorney, you need not feel overwhelmed by the complexities of fighting a large insurance company. Many people make a mistake trying to deal with the insurance companies on their own. This may result in many unfair settlements and denials. For instance, you might be told that there was no disclosure of pre-existing health status on application. Other issues might include private medical examiner disputes, and misrepresentation in terms of age or employment. These and similar reasons that you might be offered are immaterial and have no close bearing to your case whatsoever. Wrongful delay of the claim can arise out of beneficiary disputes pertaining to divorce matters, the insured's dying during the contestable period, and not being sure of cause of death.
You can also be questioned for failing to serve the insurer with income tax returns. Other deterrents include failure by the medical practitioners to provide a medical report, failure to notify the insurer of changes in your addresses, and death of the insured in a different state. These are baseless delay tactics meant to discourage you. As a beneficiary, you should consider using the services of a life insurance lawyer to adequately handle the case on your behalf. You alone can't master the necessary courage and skills to fully settle the case. What a competent attorney will do is to exert pressure on the company to make the necessary arrangements and pay you within the appropriate period of time. If this is not well responded to, then your case will find its way in the courtyards. With the matter in the corridors of justice, compensation will have to be done no matter what. It is not wise to despair and watch your fortune go down the drain. Getting a life insurance lawyer is the best solution for you.