Life Insurance Lawyer Utah
Most people don't expect a life insurance claim to be denied, but it happens frequently. Our Utah life insurance lawyers will get you the money to which you are entitled.
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To collect the death benefit, the beneficiary(ies) must typically follow a specific process outlined by the insurance company, which may include the following steps:
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Notifying the insurance company: The beneficiary(ies) must notify the insurance company of the insured's death as soon as possible. This can usually be done by phone, email, or in writing.
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Providing proof of death: The insurance company will typically require proof of the insured's death, such as a death certificate or other official document. The beneficiary(ies) will need to provide this proof to the insurance company in order to initiate the claims process.
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Providing policy information: The beneficiary(ies) will need to provide the insurance company with information about the life insurance policy, such as the policy number and the name of the insured.
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Completing claim forms: The insurance company will typically require the beneficiary(ies) to complete and submit claim forms in order to initiate the claims process. These forms may include a death claim form and a beneficiary designation form.
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Waiting for processing: The insurance company will review the claim and may require additional information or documentation from the beneficiary(ies) before making a determination on the claim. The processing time can vary depending on the insurance company and the complexity of the claim.
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Receiving the death benefit: Once the insurance company approves the claim, it will typically issue a check or electronic transfer for the death benefit to the named beneficiary(ies) within a certain time frame (usually within a few weeks).
It's important to note that the death benefit may be subject to certain limitations or exclusions outlined in the life insurance policy, such as exclusions for suicide or certain pre-existing conditions. It's also important for the insured to keep their policy up-to-date by paying premiums on time and notifying the insurance company of any changes in their personal information, such as a change of address or beneficiary designation.
Life Insurance Beneficiary Rules and Disputes Utah
2023-2024 Life Insurance Claims in Utah Recently Settled
- Midland National coronavirus death $210,000.00
- SGLI Army lost the beneficiary papers $400,000.00
- Wilcac health history regarding heart issue $220,000.00
- AD&D denied due to fentanyl use $580,000.00
- Lincoln Financial lapse of policy death $304,000.00
- United World Life denial of benefits verdict $205,000.00
- Colonial Life wrong age on application $20,000.00
- American United COVID-19 denial $103,000.00
- Ethos missed five payments resolved $74,000.00
- MetLife foreign death problem $434,900.00
- AAA lost the beneficiary change form $50,000.00
- ERISA appeal another win by us $163,000.00
- Utah bad faith life insurance $845,000.00
- Vantis would not pay out policy amount $404,000.00
- Liberty autoerotic asphyxiation death $288,000.00
- Utah denied life insurance claim verdict $309,000.00
- Globe long delay policy benefits $103,000.00
- Utah denied life insurance claim $1,140,300.00
- AIG accidental death AD&D claim $425,000.00
- SGLI issue beneficiary change $400,000.00
- American General sickness exclusion $308,000.00
- Denied life insurance claim Utah $913,000.00
- Connecticut Mutual Life health history medical $549,000.00
- Northwestern felony exclusion $320,000.00
- Mass shooting in Utah life insurance $147,000.00
- Utah divorce and life insurance $542,000.00
- Gerber material misrepresentation $211,000.00
- Transamerica drunk driving death $415,000.00
Interpleader Lawyer Utah
Utah Life Insurance Law
Most people have a pretty clear idea of the interplay between life insurance and suicide. Generally speaking, if a person commits suicide within two years of obtaining a new life insurance policy, their death is not an insurable event and their planned beneficiaries will not get paid when they die.
What many people do now know, however, is that life insurance companies have a significant financial incentive to make a policyholder’s death look like suicide, even when it is not. They do this, of course, because the more they can avoid paying out on claims, the higher their annual profits. It’s simple economics.
As lawyers who specialize in the wrongful denial of life insurance claims, we’ve seen insurance companies make some outlandish “findings” of suicide in cases where they clearly just wanted to avoid paying beneficiaries. Take, for example, the case of a young man who died in a car accident while speeding at 10 miles per hour above the speed limit. His insurance company claimed that the very act of speeding was intentionally reckless and therefore aimed at causing an untimely death – even though there were no other indicators that the policyholder was depressed or suicidal.
That was a case where it was relatively easy to overcome the wrongful claim denial. In some cases, however, the facts are a little more complex and the life insurance company needs to be challenged with a lot more vigor. This article explores one such case.
Sometimes plans go sideways
The case involved a 45 year-old man named Brian. For most of his life, Brian had been a carefree, happy guy. In 2000, he married the love of his life – a woman named Brenda – and the two enjoyed a storybook romance. Brian was a pharmaceutical sales rep who made great money and traveled quite a bit.
In December 2010, Brian was hired by a new pharmaceutical company. He was offered a lucrative salary and a generous benefits package. Among the benefits paid for by his employer was a group life insurance plan. The plan was a good one and provided coverage for most types of death. There was, however, an exclusion if Brian were to die from suicide during the first two years of the policy term.
In 2011, tragedy struck Brian’s life in the harshest of ways. First, Brian’s best friend and mentor, his father, passed away rather suddenly from a rare form of cancer. Just as Brian was grieving that loss, his wife Brenda was killed in a freak automobile accident. Though Brian tried to deal with the losses as best he could, he sunk into a deep depression.
In fact, following the death of his wife, Brian actually sat down and penned several suicide notes. He simply didn’t want to live with the grief he was experiencing. In fact, at one point Brian actually went so far as to purchase a gun that he planned to use as the instrument of his death. He wrote about the purchase in a couple of the suicide notes, all of which were collected in one spiral-bound notebook.
As it turned out, Brian never had a chance to use that gun. One day in the summer of 2012, Brian’s sister came to check on him. She found him face down on the living room floor of the home he had shared with Brenda. He was not breathing and, in fact, appeared to have been dead for a few days. The sister called 911 and the police and paramedics arrived within moments.
The police officers who investigated the scene found Brian’s spiral-bound notebook and read his suicide notes. Thus, their first instinct was to suspect that Brian had somehow caused his own death. As per protocol, they ordered a full autopsy that included a full tox-screen and an examination of all of Brian’s internal organs.
The final autopsy report wasn’t released for nearly two months but the findings were surprising to everyone who knew Brian. Despite all those suicide notes, Brian hadn’t killed himself at all. Rather, he died of a brain aneurysm that, according to the coroner, was a complete medical fluke. Brian’s body didn’t show the presence of any drugs, alcohol, or other toxins. His friends and loved ones figured he simply died of a broken heart.
A claim denial from the life insurer
After Brenda had died, Brian named his sister as the beneficiary under his life insurance policy. She first filed a claim with the life insurer while the autopsy report was still pending. Thus, it wasn’t a huge surprise when the company denied the sister’s claim pending a formal cause of death from the coroner.
Once that report was published, however, the insurance company did not reverse its denial. To the contrary, it claimed that the coroner’s conclusions were speculative and that, given all the indicia of suicide found in Brian’s home, the death had to be self-inflicted. Consequently, the insurance company claimed it was compelled to deny the claim.
Brian’s sister was not convinced. A business lawyer herself, she reached out to another attorney she knew who specialized in the wrongful denial of life insurance claims. After discussing the facts and circumstances of Brian’s death, the attorney agreed to take on the insurance company. He filed a lawsuit on the sister’s behalf and submitted all the evidence regarding Brian’s case to the judge.
Ultimately, the judge sided with Brian’s sister. Just because Brian had been thinking about suicide did not mean he actually did it. In fact, the judge found the testimony and reports from the coroner to be persuasive with respect to the true cause of Brian’s death. As such, he ordered the insurance company to pay Brian’s sister the full death benefit, with interest.
Life Insurance Contestability Period Utah
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West Valley City Utah life insurance lawyer
If you have received a life insurance claim denial based on an alleged suicide, don’t just accept the insurance company’s decision. Call our firm, discuss your case with one of our attorneys, and let us help you decide whether to challenge that denial. Call us today. We’re here to help.