Life insurance agrees to pay a certain amount of money to a beneficiary in exchange for payment of a premium upon the death of the insured. However, life insurance companies only make money if they pay out less in life insurance benefits than they take in premiums. Life insurance companies hold onto other people’s money by not informing beneficiaries that policies exist and by denying claims made by known beneficiaries.
What happens when an insured person dies, but the beneficiary never comes forward because he or she doesn’t know the policy exists?
Usually Nothing! The insurance company holds onto the money and continues to use the beneficiary’s money to the insurance company’s own benefit until the policy is discovered and the claim made.
Insurance Companies have actual knowledge in their files that people they insure have died, yet they neglect to initiate an investigation and pay the claim. The beneficiary never comes forward because he or she doesn’t know the policy exists. There is no Louisiana penalty to discourage this dishonest practice. Unfortunately, Louisiana has failed to pass an Unclaimed Life Insurance Benefits Law that would require life insurers to search the Social Security Administration death master file and provide payment of benefits to beneficiaries. What can be done in the meantime while waiting for the Louisiana Legislature to act?
Even when the insured dies and the beneficiary knows of the policy and makes a claim, the beneficiary may encounter other problems where the life insurance company denies payment. The four primary areas where beneficiaries encounter denials 1) death during the contestability period; 2) type of death not covered under the policy; 3) failure of insured to disclose relevant personal information; and 4) failure to timely pay policy premiums;
Term policy exists for the period of a specified period of time provided premiums are paid. A whole life policy is more of a permanent policy that exists for the life of the person insured as long as premiums are paid. Whole life is typically is more expensive than term insurance and has a cash value.
What are social security death benefits?
In addition to the typical life insurance claim, certain relatives of the deceased may want to contact Social Security to see if they qualify for Social Security Death Benefits.
If you are a beneficiary who believes your claim was unfairly denied or have questions about your insurance claim, call today.
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