Your loved one made you a beneficiary of their life insurance policy as a means of continuing to help support you and as an expression of their legacy. If your claim, however, is stalled or has been denied, it can make the painful loss you’ve experienced that much more challenging. If you find yourself in a difficult situation like this, an experienced San Francisco life insurance claims lawyer is standing by to help.  

Protections for the Insurance Company

It is important to note that the State of California has protections in place for both the insurance company and the policyholder when it comes to life insurance. To begin, the life insurance company is allowed a full two years from the date of an application’s acceptance to root out and identify any misrepresentation on the part of the policyholder. This is called the contestability period, and the kind of misrepresentations that are involved generally include examples like the following:

• Basic errors made in filling out the application
• Oversight on the part of the applicant
• Fraudulence, which refers to purposefully intending to cheat the insurance company

If the insurance company spots any of these issues in this early period, it has the right to void or deny the policy, but this window closes at the two-year date. Fraudulence that is detected at any point after the policy is issued, however, can lead to a valid claim denial.

A Note about Errors – or Misrepresentations

If you have ever sat down to fill out a long, boring form, such as an application for life insurance, you recognize that it’s a tedious, challenging process, and simple errors, omissions, and oversights are not unheard of. When you couple this with the fact that these policies amount to legal contracts and tend to include the kind of boggling language that is common to legal contracts, it’s no wonder that mistakes are made. 

The kinds of errors that are most likely to affect a life insurance policy include the following:

• The policyholder enters an incorrect age
• The policyholder fails to include a complete and accurate medical history
• The policyholder fails to provide accurate information related to their identity

Laws that Are Intended to Protect Policyholders

The State of California does not neglect policyholders in the process, and in response, it implements the following laws that are intended to protect their rights:

• Policyholders are allowed a 30-day grace period for paying their premiums, which is considered a reasonable allowance, and claims cannot be denied within this timeframe. 
• Life insurance companies are required to settle valid claims within 30 days of filing. 

An Experienced San Francisco Life Insurance Claims Lawyer Is on Your Side

The savvy San Francisco life insurance claims lawyers at Roberts Disability Law, P.C., have an impressive range of experience guiding complex claims like yours toward advantageous conclusions, and we’re in your corner. Learn more about what we can do to help you by reaching out and contacting us today.