Connecticut Life Insurance Lawyer

Life Insurance Lawyers Serving All 8 Connecticut Counties

Christian Lassen, Esq. | 25 Years Experience | Hundreds of Millions Recovered

If your life insurance claim was denied in Connecticut, you're not alone and you're not without options. At The Lassen Law Firm, we focus exclusively on life insurance litigation and have helped beneficiaries throughout Connecticut recover millions in wrongfully denied death benefits. Whether your case involves an alleged misrepresentation, a lapse in coverage, an exclusion clause, or a contested beneficiary change, we know how to fight back and win.

Led by nationally recognized life insurance attorney Christian Lassen, quoted by The Wall Street Journal and rated 10.0 by AVVO, our firm represents clients in every region of Connecticut. We handle denied life insurance claims in all 8 counties, and there is never a fee unless we recover for you.

Denied Life Insurance Claim in Connecticut? You’re Not Alone.

It’s not uncommon for insurers in Connecticut to reject valid life insurance claims, leaving beneficiaries frustrated and uncertain about their next steps. If you're dealing with a refused life insurance claim in Connecticut, The Lassen Law Firm can step in and advocate for the payout your loved one intended you to receive.

Beneficiary disputes in Connecticut often arise when life insurance policies are updated close to death, or when ex-spouses and family members present competing claims. If you're dealing with a life insurance beneficiary dispute in Connecticut, The Lassen Law Firm is ready to protect your rights and pursue a fair resolution.

When a life insurance company receives competing claims in Connecticut, it may file an interpleader lawsuit in Connecticut to avoid making the wrong payment and let the court decide who should receive the funds.

Life insurance claims can be daunting, especially when dealing with denied benefits or bad faith practices in Connecticut. At The Lassen Law Firm, we are dedicated to helping individuals and families across the Constitution State navigate the complexities of life insurance law. 

As life insurance attorneys handling cases nationwide, we’ve successfully recovered hundreds of millions in policies for our clients. Our commitment to justice and personalized attention makes The Lassen Law Firm the trusted choice for those seeking results. Call now for a free consultation to see if we can help you recover your life insurance benefits. No obligation.

Unlike other firms, The Lassen Law Firm exclusively handles denied life insurance claims. With 25 years of experience in this niche, we are recognized as top experts in the field. Our lawyers have earned prestigious awards, including membership in the Multi-Million Dollar Advocates Forum and a 10.0 rating on AVVO. No other firm offers the same level of dedication and expertise in denied life insurance cases.

Life Insurance Claim Denials in Connecticut: How We Help Beneficiaries Recover

In Connecticut, families depend on life insurance to provide stability after the death of a loved one. Unfortunately, many legitimate life insurance claims are denied, delayed, or underpaid, often at the worst possible moment. If your claim has been rejected, you are not powerless. Our Connecticut life insurance attorneys help beneficiaries challenge wrongful denials and secure the benefits they are owed under the law. Legal help is often essential when confronting a denied accidental death and dismemberment claim in Connecticut.

Insurance companies are obligated to honor their policies, but they often act in their own financial interests first. By twisting policy language, overstating technical errors, or asserting questionable exclusions, they seek to minimize payouts. You do not have to accept their decision. We offer free consultations and charge no fees unless we recover benefits for you.

Why Life Insurance Claims Get Denied in Connecticut

Every denial has a reason, but not every reason is valid. Some of the most common tactics insurers use in Connecticut to deny life insurance claims include:

Application Misstatement

If the insurer claims the insured failed to disclose key facts, such as a medical diagnosis or smoking habit, they may try to rescind coverage.

Nonpayment of Premiums

Some Connecticut beneficiaries face denials after insurers cite missed payments, but the coverage lapse leading to denial is often based on flawed or untimely premium notices.

Deaths During the Contestability Period

If the insured passed away within the first two years after policy issuance, insurers often search aggressively for inconsistencies in the application.

Excluded Causes of Death

Policies often exclude deaths from activities like skydiving, mountain climbing, drug use, or suicide within a certain timeframe.

Conflicting Claims Among Beneficiaries

If multiple parties assert a right to the proceeds, such as a new spouse and children from a previous marriage, the insurer may refuse to pay until a court decides.

Errors with Group Life Insurance Plans

Employer mistakes during enrollment or administration can result in claim denials even when employees believed they had valid coverage.

Delays Based on Criminal Investigations

When a death is under investigation, insurers sometimes delay payments indefinitely, creating hardship for beneficiaries.

Even if the insurer cites a policy provision or technical rule, that doesn’t mean the denial is legally justified. An experienced life insurance attorney can often identify weaknesses in the insurer’s position and demand full payment.

Contestability Periods and Life Insurance Disputes in Connecticut

Most life insurance policies issued in Connecticut include a two-year contestability period. During this window, insurers may review claims more closely and rescind policies based on alleged misrepresentations in the application. After the contestability period ends, insurers generally must honor the policy unless they can prove intentional fraud.

Importantly, not every error or omission will justify rescinding coverage. Only material misstatements, ones that would have affected the insurer’s decision to issue or price the policy matter. Innocent or irrelevant mistakes typically do not give the insurer the right to avoid payment.

If your life insurance claim is being denied based on contestability arguments, you need a strong legal advocate who understands Connecticut insurance law and how to push back against unfair practices.

How to Protect Your Rights After a Life Insurance Denial in Connecticut

If you receive a denial letter from a life insurance company, the actions you take next are critical to protecting your claim. Here’s what you should do immediately:

• Request the full policy, including any riders or amendments, and review the denial letter closely.
• Save all written communication, emails, and notes regarding conversations with the insurance company.
• Refrain from giving additional statements or documents to the insurer without speaking with an attorney first.
• Act quickly. Connecticut law and federal ERISA rules (for employer-provided life insurance) often impose strict deadlines on appeals and lawsuits.

Contact an experienced Connecticut life insurance attorney who can assess the strength of your case and develop a strategy to recover your benefits.

Insurers often hope that beneficiaries will feel intimidated or accept their denial without question. Early legal intervention can change the balance of power and dramatically increase the chances of recovery.

Our Approach to Life Insurance Disputes in Connecticut

When you hire our firm, you are hiring a team that focuses exclusively on fighting life insurance claim denials. We understand the complex laws and industry tactics that insurers use, and we know how to fight back. Our attorneys will:

• Analyze your policy and the insurer’s stated reasons for denial.
• Investigate whether the insurer violated Connecticut insurance law or federal ERISA requirements.
• Gather medical records, application documents, and other evidence to strengthen your case.
• Handle all negotiations with the insurance company to relieve you of the burden.
• Pursue litigation when necessary to enforce your rights and seek full compensation.
• Pursue additional damages if the insurer’s denial amounts to bad faith conduct.

Our goal is simple: maximize your recovery, resolve your claim as efficiently as possible, and hold the insurer accountable for any wrongful behavior.

Federal life insurance claims can be denied for technical reasons that don’t hold up under legal scrutiny. We help Connecticut families pursue appeals for denied SGLI claims related to military service and denied FEGLI life insurance benefits owed to the families of federal employees.

If your life insurance coverage was provided by a private employer, it likely falls under ERISA jurisdiction. Our firm regularly assists Connecticut clients with denied group life insurance claims governed by ERISA and works to recover the benefits that were improperly withheld.

Answers to Common Questions About Life Insurance Denials in Connecticut

What should I do if my life insurance claim in Connecticut was denied?

You should immediately contact a Connecticut life insurance lawyer. For example, we recently helped a Bridgeport family recover a $405,000 policy after the insurer claimed the insured failed to disclose a medical condition unrelated to the cause of death.

How should I handle a denied ERISA life insurance claim in Connecticut?

You get only one administrative appeal under ERISA, and it must be thorough. For instance, we overturned a $137,000 denial for a Hartford employee after building an appeal with medical records and expert opinions proving the claim should have been honored.

What happens if the insurer delayed payment for months in Connecticut—is that legal?

Excessive delays may be considered bad faith. For example, we pursued a bad faith lawsuit for a client in New Haven after the insurer sat on a claim for five months, resulting in recovery of the full benefit plus damages.

Can I file a bad faith lawsuit in Connecticut for a denied life insurance claim?

Yes. For example, we sued a national insurer that denied a claim without conducting a proper investigation, resulting in a $325,000 recovery plus additional compensation for our client.

Can a lapsed life insurance policy still pay out in Connecticut?

Yes, especially if lapse notices were not properly issued. We reinstated a $150,000 policy in Stamford after proving the insurer sent the notice to the wrong address.

Can I reinstate a policy that lapsed due to non-payment if notice wasn’t provided properly?

Yes. We successfully recovered benefits for a widow in Waterbury after showing that the insurer violated lapse notice rules and improperly canceled the policy.

What happens if the policyholder made a mistake on their life insurance application in Connecticut?

Only material and intentional misstatements justify denial. In one case, we reversed a $112,000 denial after showing that a minor error about past medication had no impact on the insured's death.

Can a claim be denied due to illegal activity at the time of death?

Only if the illegal activity directly caused the death. We overturned a denial where an insurer cited a minor traffic infraction unrelated to the fatal accident.

Is an alcohol exclusion enough for a life insurance company to deny a claim in Connecticut?

Not unless alcohol was the direct cause of death. We fought and won a $215,000 claim where alcohol was present but had no role in the fatal incident.

Why would a claim for accidental death be denied when the death clearly wasn’t from natural causes?

Insurers often misclassify accidents to avoid paying. For example, we used autopsy evidence to prove a slip-and-fall in New Britain was accidental after a carrier tried to classify it as a stroke.

Why would an accidental death and dismemberment (AD&D) claim be denied in Connecticut?

Insurers may claim the death was due to illness, not an accident. We overturned an AD&D denial in Danbury involving a fall misattributed to a heart condition.

Can a suicide exclusion be enforced in Connecticut?

Only within two years of policy issue. We reversed a denial after showing the insured’s death occurred nearly four years after the policy began.

What can I do if my claim is denied during the contestability period in Connecticut?

Even during the contestability window, the misrepresentation must be material. We secured a $245,000 payout after proving that a misstated weight had no relevance to the cause of death.

The denial letter says my claim was denied due to Connecticut law—what now?

Insurers often misuse legal language. In one case, we proved the insurer wrongly applied an outdated divorce statute, leading to full payment of the claim.

Can creditors claim life insurance proceeds in Connecticut?

No, not when a named beneficiary exists. We protected a client’s $300,000 payout from being seized by creditors who tried to claim it through the estate.

What if the life insurance contract contains vague or unclear language?

Ambiguities are resolved in favor of the beneficiary. For example, we used this rule to challenge a denial involving unclear "accidental death" language.

What if there is no named beneficiary on the life insurance policy?

Proceeds typically go to the estate. We helped a family in Norwalk recover a $180,000 policy through probate after no beneficiary was named.

I’ve been served with a life insurance interpleader lawsuit in Connecticut—how do I respond?

You must file a legal response to protect your rights. We secured a favorable ruling for a claimant in a Hartford interpleader case involving competing children from two marriages.

I’m in the middle of a beneficiary dispute in Connecticut—can a lawyer help me?

Yes. We won a dispute where an ex-spouse in Middletown claimed benefits, but we proved the designation was invalid due to automatic revocation under Connecticut law.

A beneficiary change was made just before the policyholder died, is that challengeable?

Yes. We challenged a last-minute change in a Greenwich case by showing the insured was mentally impaired at the time, and the court reinstated the prior beneficiary.

A forged or suspicious beneficiary form was filed, can I contest that?

Absolutely. In one case, we hired a handwriting expert and had a forged form thrown out in court, restoring benefits to the rightful beneficiary in Bristol.

Someone claims the insured verbally promised them the benefit, does that count?

No, only written designations control. We defended a named beneficiary after a relative in West Hartford produced a voicemail claiming the deceased promised them the money.

Does Connecticut automatically remove an ex-spouse as a life insurance beneficiary after divorce?

Yes, unless reaffirmed. We used this law to block an ex-wife’s claim when the policyholder failed to update the designation post-divorce.

Is Connecticut a community property state, and how does that affect life insurance?

No. However, we’ve helped surviving spouses assert claims when premiums were paid with marital funds despite not being named as beneficiaries.

Can a life insurance policy be overridden by a will in Connecticut?

No. We recently enforced a policy designation after a will named a different heir in Tolland County, showing that the policy controlled the outcome.

What happens if the insured died abroad, can I still file a claim?

Yes. We resolved a $305,000 claim after proving that the death occurred during a valid overseas trip covered by the policy.

What if the policyholder disappeared and was declared legally dead in Connecticut?

Once declared dead, the claim can be processed. We helped a family in Litchfield County file successfully after the insured was missing for over five years.

What happens if the policy was provided through a Connecticut union or professional group?

These policies may have unique administrative rules. We helped a New Haven union member secure benefits after a delay caused by paperwork errors.

Are employer-sponsored life insurance policies in Connecticut subject to ERISA rules?

Yes. We routinely represent employees and their families in ERISA appeals, including a recent $188,000 recovery after a denial based on missing documents.

The insurance agent made an error on the application, does that affect the claim?

No, if the applicant gave correct information. We reversed a denial where the agent omitted disclosed health issues from the form in New London.

Can the claim be denied if the insured failed to disclose a pre-existing condition?

Only if the omission was material. We won a $220,000 payout where a forgotten asthma disclosure had no connection to the cause of death.

Do I still receive a share if I’m listed as one of several beneficiaries?

Yes. We recently enforced a split payout in Stamford after one co-beneficiary tried to claim the full amount.

Can a child be named as a life insurance beneficiary in Connecticut?

Yes, but funds are managed by a custodian. We helped a family in Manchester set up a guardianship account after a minor was named on a $100,000 policy.

Is it too late to appeal if I waited a few months after receiving a denial?

Not always. We reopened a case five months after denial and recovered full benefits by submitting new evidence for a client in Derby.

Connecticut Life Insurance Claims: Local Challenges and Legal Insights

Connecticut beneficiaries face unique hurdles when pursuing denied life insurance claims, especially when disputes arise over outdated forms or unclear beneficiary changes. In a recent case from New Haven, the insurer initiated an interpleader action in the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut, which holds sessions in cities like Hartford, New Haven, and Bridgeport. We represented the daughter of the insured and secured a full payout after proving the change of beneficiary was improperly executed at a nursing facility.

Although Connecticut is not a community property state, we’ve handled cases in Stamford and Norwalk where spousal claims to policy proceeds were recognized due to joint ownership of the account used to fund the premiums. Even without a named beneficiary, spouses may have rights depending on how the policy was structured and paid for.

One of the most common denial issues in the state involves group life insurance provided by employers, often governed by ERISA. In Hartford, we recently appealed a denial stemming from an employer’s failure to enroll an employee correctly in the company-sponsored plan. Our firm understands the ERISA appeals process and has handled many such claims successfully at the federal level.

Connecticut insurers are also aggressive during the two-year contestability period, sometimes voiding policies based on trivial health record discrepancies. In Danbury, we reversed a $150,000 denial that was based solely on an undisclosed emergency room visit that had no bearing on the cause of death.

Contact us today for a free consultation.

Written & Reviewed by Christian Lassen, Esq., Nationally recognized life insurance lawyer: 25 years experience, hundreds of millions recovered.  Quoted in The Wall Street Journal ( May 17, 2025).

Last reviewed: June 14, 2025 | Contact 800-330-2274