Life Insurance Lawyer Nevada

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What are some different examples of a life insurance claim denial due to the death being outside the coverage period?
A life insurance claim may be denied if the death occurred outside the coverage period of the policy. Here are some examples of different situations that could result in a claim denial due to the death being outside the coverage period:

  1. Lapse in premium payments - If the policyholder failed to make timely premium payments and the policy lapsed prior to the death, the death would be outside the coverage period and the claim may be denied.

  2. Policy cancellation - If the policy was canceled prior to the death, the death would be outside the coverage period and the claim may be denied.

  3. Expiration of the policy term - If the policy term ended prior to the death and the policyholder did not renew or convert the policy, the death would be outside the coverage period and the claim may be denied.

  4. Suicide exclusion - If the policy includes a suicide exclusion and the policyholder died by suicide within the exclusion period, the death would be outside the coverage period and the claim may be denied.

  5. Contestability period - If the policy is in the contestability period (typically the first two years after the policy is issued), the insurance company may investigate the policyholder's medical history and other relevant factors to determine if any misrepresentations or omissions were made on the application. If fraud or material misrepresentation is discovered, the insurance company may deny the claim on the basis that the death occurred outside the coverage period.

It's important to review the specific terms and conditions of the life insurance policy to understand the coverage period and any exclusions that may apply.

Call us at 800-330-2274 for a free consultation.

Nevada Denied Life Insurance Claims Recently Settled

  • Globe life lapse nonpayment premium $10,000.00
  • Nevada mass shooting denied claim won $108,000.00
  • Fidelity Life oxycontin exclusion $52,000.00
  • United Home Life policy lapse $25,000.00
  • Prudential Life chronic illness exclusion $343,000.00
  • American United Life suicide exclusion $101,000.00
  • Transamerica BAC level intoxication exclusion $504,000.00
  • Bestow Life wrong age on application won $77,000.00
  • Lincoln National Life self-inflicted injury exclusion $90,000.00
  • Unum bad faith denial of claim $417,000.00
  • COVID-19 death life claim denied $833,200.00
  • Country Financial dangerous activity won $52,400.00
  • Cigna interpleader lawsuit success $253,000.00
  • Transamerica accidental death vs natural $312,823.00
  • Ex-wife contested SGLI claim and we won $403,650.00
  • Coronavirus denial of life insurance claim $352,000.00
  • Southern Farm Bureau four exclusions won $109,500.00
  • Lincoln National omission on application $215,329.00
  • Nevada denied life insurance claim $1,425,000.00
  • Denied FEGLI claim paid after phone call $120,400.00
  • SGLI resolved competing beneficiaries $400,000.00
  • Colonial life material misrepresentation $213,700.00
  • Nevada divorce and life insurance $528,900.00
  • Accidental Death and Dismemberment $531,879.00
  • West Coast alcohol drunk driving $277,000.00
  • Denied life insurance claim Nevada $2,200,000.00
  • Stonebridge illegal drug exclusion won $215,000.00
  • AD&D claim denial won by our lawyers $740,600.00
  • CUNA autoerotic asphyxiation death $356,000.00
  • Primerica beneficiary dispute payout $711,800.00
  • Liberty Mutual breach of contract issue $202,400.00

Nevada Life Insurance Law

Life insurance is an important financial planning tool for many American families. At a base level, most people understand how life insurance works. Policyholders pay premiums to the life insurance company and, in return, the policyholder’s beneficiaries receive a predetermined death payout when that policyholder dies. Oftentimes, that payout is so important to surviving family members that life insurance is sometimes almost viewed as a charitable endeavor.

Make no mistake, however. Life insurance companies are very much profit driven entities. The simple truth is that they make the most money if they can create two key conditions: (1) sell a life insurance policy to a person who faithfully pays premiums during the life of the policy; and (2) after that person dies, deny any claims against the policy made by that person’s beneficiary.

As attorneys who specialize in the wrongful denial of life insurance claims, we see these tactics in action all the time. Life insurers employ throngs of lawyers whose sole job it is to look for reasons to deny claims any time a person dies. Still other lawyers are employed to draft insurance policy language ridden with loopholes that will allow for such denials.

To add insult to injury, the life insurance companies then make submitting a claim a cumbersome process. At the very least, the process typically involves submission of: (a) a claim form; (b) a death certificate; (c) an autopsy report or coroner’s report, if applicable; (d) police reports, if applicable; and (e) an obituary.

Sometimes, however, not all of this information is available to the beneficiary. This article explores circumstances where the beneficiary is unable to obtain the most critical part of the claim submission – the death certificate. Almost no life insurance policy will pay a benefit without it. Yet, as you’ll see below, there are a surprising number of circumstances where the document is simply unavailable.

When death certificates aren’t available

At first blush, it’s hard to imagine a scenario where a death certificate wouldn’t issue almost immediately after a person’s death. If a person has died, there shouldn’t be any delay, right? Not necessarily. In truth, there are a vast array of circumstances in which a death certificate does not immediately issue.

Take, for example, the case of an American citizen who dies while traveling in a third world country. That country may not have the administrative, legal, or political ability to produce a document verifying a person’s death. Other countries may have religious customs that require bodies to be embalmed immediately – a practice that makes an autopsy and determination of the cause of death nearly impossible. Thus, even if a death certificate does issue, it won’t list the official cause of death and the insurer may refuse a payout on that basis.

Another tragic (yet common) scenario where a death certificate may not issue is in the case of a mass disaster. The terror attacks of 9/11, the tsunamis in Japan and Thailand, and the disappearance of the Malaysian jetliner are all examples where death certificates can be near impossible to obtain. In each of those cases, deaths were innumerable and widespread. Thousands of bodies were lost in each catastrophe, never to be recovered. Entire government systems were overtaxed or shut down completely.

Even in those cases that occurred in foreign lands, there were Americans with life insurance policies who undeniably lost their lives. Their families were left with the overwhelming shock and grief of losing a loved one in such a violent and unexpected manner. Yet, when it came time to submit claims to life insurance companies relating to those losses, many of the policy beneficiaries were met with the same response: “We’re sorry. We can’t process your claim without a death certificate.”

Time to call a life insurance lawyer

The receipt of a claim denial letter under these circumstances can be devastating. This is especially true if the deceased was the primary wage earner in the family and the surviving loved ones were dependent on the proceeds of life insurance simply to pay normal living expenses. In those instances, families may not be able to survive the period of time that it takes for insurance companies to agree to presume death (typically a period of five to seven years after the policyholder goes missing).

To make matters worse, survivors who are having a particularly difficult time with their grief and anguish may not have the will to fight the insurance company’s claim denial letter. That feeling of defeat is certainly understandable. The good news is that there are people who will fight tooth and nail to see that you get the life insurance benefits that were intended for you.

In our line of work, we have faced these difficult circumstances with clients more times than we’d like to admit. We know the insurance companies are simply taking advantage of tragic circumstances so they can line their pockets. Importantly, we don’t stand for it. Neither should you.

For example, one of the things we can help you with is obtaining a declaration from a court that your loved one is actually deceased. Known as a death in absentia declaration (“presumption of death”), U.S. courts can take the facts and circumstances of a policyholder’s disappearance and legally deem them to be dead. This is actually a fairly common occurrence any time a mass tragedy occurs. In the case of an airline disaster, for example, we would seek to raise the presumption of death by showing the court a copy of your loved one’s itinerary, the airline’s flight manifesto, or text messages sent from the plane after boarding. Courts typically show a great sense of justice in these circumstances.

Insurance companies, however, won’t tell you about this process. They’ll let you believe you are simply out of luck. If you’re facing a situation where you can’t obtain a death certificate (or any other documentation necessary to submit a life insurance claim), call us today.

We’re here to help.

My Husband’s Ex Wife Is Getting His Insurance!

Life insurance is essentially a contract between one person and one company. The person agrees to pay certain monthly premiums to the insurance company, and in exchange the insurance company agrees to pay money to whoever the insured person chooses. That person that receives the money is called a beneficiary. The good thing about the system is that it is very simple and reliable, but that simplicity can backfire.

Always Check Your Beneficiaries

To get a sense for how this works, consider the beneficiary policy for the Federal Employees’ Group Life Insurance program , which is one scenario, but state laws vary, and we know all the laws inside and out. When the insured person dies, the insurance company for these claims will go down a list until it finds an appropriate beneficiary to award the death benefits to:

● First, the insurance company will award benefits to any validly-designated beneficiary;

● If there are no designated beneficiaries, then the company will look to the insured person’s widow or widower;

● If the deceased person was not married, the benefits will go to his or her children;

● If the deceased person was not married and had no descendants, then the money will go into the estate; and

● If no other beneficiary can be found, the insurance company will follow the next of kin laws of the relevant state, which will usually award the benefits to a distant relative.

Again, state laws vary, but we know all the laws

This system can often go wrong when someone gets divorced. First, the insured person will often set a beneficiary when he or she buys the policy, and then forget about it. Very commonly this means the person will write down the name of his or her spouse. Years can pass and then maybe the insured person will split up with his or her spouse.

It takes time to get divorced. In many states, you cannot do it until you have been separated for a year. Love moves on, and many people can be settled in with a new boyfriend or girlfriend long before the divorce is finalized. This creates one common problem, where the insured person may have chosen his or her former spouse as the beneficiary and then never changed the designation. Years later, a new spouse and even an entire new family could be superseded by the ex spouse still being the designated beneficiary.

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Another common mishap is when the deceased person failed to ever designate any beneficiary. Then, he or she dies while a divorce is in progress. If the death occurs before the divorce then it may not matter who was in love with the deceased person, or who they were living with or if they had created a whole new family. The insurance company will follow its policy and award the benefits to the legal spouse.