Why You Should Hire a Lawyer to Help with Life Insurance Claims

Posted by Joseph Marie
3
Aug 24, 2015
131 Views
Dealing with the death of a loved one is devastating. It can be especially overwhelming when that person has a life insurance policy and the company refuses to pay your claim. This can have a tremendous financial impact on your family and its future. This is when you need to hire a lawyer for life insurance claims. Their expertise can help you in dealing with the insurance company, and in some cases, they may be able to address the reasons life insurance companies use to deny claims to the beneficiaries.

What Are the Most Common Reasons Behind Denied Claims?

Inaccuracies or False Statements on the Application

When the insured party was filling out the application to purchase life insurance, they probably had to answer a lot of questions regarding their health, medical history, and lifestyle. It is very important that they were honest in this section. A lawyer for life insurance claims can help if the company is saying there were misrepresentations or false statements on the application that has resulted in the claim being denied. For example, if the insured has mentioned on their application that they are occasional smokers, when in fact they are a pack a day smoker, this can be a cause for denying a claim.

Non-payment of Premiums


If the insurance company has denied your claim due to non-payment of premiums, a lawyer for life insurance claims can help.   He or she will review the paperwork and payment history on the account. They can also represent you if you take the matter to court and challenge their reason for denying your claim.

No Beneficiary on File

Sometimes a life insurance claim is denied because there is no beneficiary listed on the policy. This can happen for many reasons. It could be because the insured didn't state a beneficiary, the beneficiary was in the process of being changed, or the insurance company made a clerical error. You should hire an insurance lawyer if this is the reason for denial of life insurance claim. A lawyer can help to sort out the confusion.

Exclusions written Into the Policy

A life insurance policy can have a lot of exclusions for circumstances in which the insurance company will not pay out to the beneficiary. Some of these exclusions can be: if the insured died while engaged in a dangerous activity or extreme sport (say skydiving); an aviation clause can prevent you from being paid out if the insured passed away in a crash on a private plane, for instance. Make sure you read these exclusions carefully and get a lawyer to help with your life insurance claim if it was denied because of such an exclusion.

Improper Submission or Insufficient Documentation


The final reason we will discuss for the denial of your life insurance claim is that your application was done improperly, or the company didn't receive enough documentation to meet their satisfaction to approve the payment of the death benefit. You can prevent this by having a lawyer help with your life insurance claim from the very beginning.  Have them walk you through the entire process with you from beginning to end.


Share Lawyers, leading disability insurance lawyers serving Ontario, helps clients with claims against insurance companies for long term disability ( sharelawyers.com/services-covera ) benefits, life insurance claims and other claims based on critical illnesses and injuries.
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