How to Fight a Denied Life Insurance Claim
If your life insurance claim has been denied it’s time to learn how to fight a denied life insurance claim.
You can fight a life insurance claim denial; we’re here to explain how. Most life insurance claims that get denied are policies still in the contestable period – issued within two years of the insured’s death. A contestable policy can be evaluated for any misinformation after the insured dies. If a life insurance claim is denied it doesn’t mean that the insured lied on the application. It probably means that more information is needed in order for the insurer to approve the claim.
A life insurance claim can be denied for a number of reasons
Reasons for a denial can be:
- medical information
- beneficiary discrepancies
- lapses in coverage
- change of marital status, and many others.
If you want to fight a denied life insurance claim, you need to start by taking the following steps
- Have the insurer’s denial letter. This letter will describe exactly why the claim was denied, and it will help in determining how to fight the denied life insurance claim.
- Determine if the reason the claim was denied was due to information that the insurer reviewed, or if it’s due to a law in a certain state. A claim denied for medical history reasons, for example, needs to be fought differently than a claim that is denied due to a state’s laws.
- Determine whether the policy was purchased through an employer or individually. If the policy was issued through an employer, then federal laws will apply. These are known as ERISA rules. They’re quite specific regarding appealing denied claims; for example, you can only do a single appeal of an ERISA denied claim.
- Compare the answers on the original application against the insurer’s letter of denial. If the insurer’s letter of denial states that question #5 was answered ‘Yes’, check the application and confirm that question #5 was answered ‘Yes’. If it was answered ‘No’, the insurer made a mistake in its claim decision.
- Gather all of the written correspondence you have about the claim. To be successful when fighting a denied life insurance claim you’ll want to make a file of all correspondence with the insurer. This includes letters and documents you’ve sent to the insurer during the claim process. It also includes all correspondence you’ve received from the insurer.
Can the department of insurance or insurance commissioner fight for me?
No. Understand that your state’s department of insurance is not able to fight a denied life insurance claim. Much time can be wasted by filing a complaint against the insurer with a state’s department of insurance. It’s false to believe a department has the ability to force a claim to be paid. It does not, and much time can be wasted by misunderstanding a department’s lack of authority.
Should I hire a lawyer to fight my life insurance claim denial?
Consider how quickly you want the denied claim appealed, and how quickly you want your claim money. One option in fighting a denied life insurance claim is to use an attorney to file a lawsuit. On average a life insurance lawsuit will take 12 to 24 months (one to two years) to conclude. A faster way to get your claim appealed and get your money is to use a life insurance claim expert to fight the denied life insurance claim. This will take only a few months to conclude.
Know how much fighting a denied life insurance claim will cost. While a life insurance lawyer will charge fees (on average) of 25% to 40%, you can get your claim appealed for much less. Using a life insurance claim expert will typically cost only 10%. Decide what your budget is for fighting your claim denial.
Don’t waste your appeal!
A grave mistake that can be made when fighting a denied claim under ERISA is unknowingly using your appeal. Writing a letter of complaint will be seen as an appeal. If the letter simply expresses your frustration but fails to offer substantive reasons for the appeal, the claim denial will be upheld. You will have wasted your appeal and your only option will be to file a lawsuit.
How do I choose who can fight for my life insurance claim?
Only work with experts or attorneys who have experience fighting life insurance denials. While many attorneys or advisors will be willing to accept your claim appeal, you’ll benefit most by using someone with significant life insurance claims experience to represent you. A person or firm with knowledge of claims and life insurance will be able to get the denied claim appealed faster than someone who has to learn as they go.
How We Can Benefit You.
The Center for Life Insurance Disputes fights denied life insurance claims by dealing directly with a life insurer’s claims and legal representatives. We don’t need to file expensive lawsuits to get denied claims overturned and paid. We have successfully recovered over $50 million for our clients and we can do the same for you. If you want to fight a denied life insurance claim decision, call us to discuss your claim.
888-428-4868 Toll Free Call