Roberts Disability Law, P.C. represents beneficiaries or survivors against insurance companies who have denied their claims for life insurance benefit payments. Our attorneys specialize in life insurance policies that the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (“ERISA”) governs. ERISA usually covers life insurance policies offered through an employer’s benefit plan.
Insurance companies should stand behind the promise of a life insurance policy that it has issued, but in some circumstances, these companies will deny meritorious claims. The last thing you should be thinking about when you have lost someone important to you is fighting for the life insurance benefits your loved one or business partner wanted to leave for you during this challenging time. When this happens, you need an advocate on your side that understands the law and your rights to life insurance policy benefits.
Insurance companies may deny a life insurance claim for several reasons. Sometimes an insurance company will refuse to pay benefits by alleging that the insured committed suicide. In other circumstances, an insurance company will take the position that the insured contributed to his or her own death by engaging in an illegal or irresponsible act that is excluded under the policy terms. Sometimes an insurance company may argue that the deceased misrepresented his or her medical condition at the time of submitting the life insurance application. In those circumstances, an insurance company will find records or other evidence that arguably conflicts with a statement on the application and then deny the claim.
Did you know? Long term disability claimants are frequently eligible for a waiver of the life insurance premium for their life and AD&D policies. It is important to obtain and review the applicable documents to see if this benefit is available.
Our attorneys focus almost exclusively on ERISA law and can help you obtain life insurance benefits if you are the rightful beneficiary of those benefits. Depending on the facts of your case, our attorneys employ different approaches to submitting a successful appeal of a denied life insurance benefit claim. For example, we may help you prove that the insured’s death was an accident rather than suicide. We may also help you prove that the deceased did not contribute to his or her own death or that the circumstances justify a sensible settlement of the claim. Where an insurance company challenges statements made on a life insurance application, we may help prove that the policy was incontestable under California law or that any misstatement was not intentional. Regardless, an insurance company could have conducted its own physical exam at the application stage, which could have uncovered the undisclosed health condition.
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