Life Insurance Beneficiary Lawyer to Help You If Your Life Insurance Claim is Denied due to COVID-19, the disease caused by the Coronavirus
We are in the middle of a worldwide health crisis. Everyone is concerned with avoiding contracting the coronavirus, but what happens if you or a loved one does fall ill and dies?
Although this pandemic has created an unusual situation for us, for the life insurance companies, it will be “business as usual”. Life insurance companies only make money when they don’t pay claims, so inevitably they try to avoid paying claims whenever they can, coronavirus claims included. The beneficiary attorneys at Boonswang Law have seen it all and can help you fight back and get paid if your coronavirus claim was denied.
Give us a call at 1-855-865-4335 for your no-cost, no-obligation consultation. We only get paid if you get paid.
7 Tactics a Life Insurance Company Will Use to Deny a Claim After a Coronavirus Death
Life insurance companies will have to get creative in crafting reasons for denying beneficiaries’ claims, as there are no pandemic exclusions to life insurance coverage for existing policies. Knowing life insurance companies as we do, we suspect they will try one or rmore of the following seven tactics to deny claims.
We are prepared to fight back and get beneficiaries paid. Bookmark this page because we will be updating this article as life insurance companies begin to respond to claims filed for COVID-19 deaths.
Tactic #1 – Claiming that Coronavirus was Not the Cause of Death
If an insured contracts the coronavirus and dies, we suspect the insurer will look closely at the death certificate and whether the insured had any underlying conditions. If so, did the insured disclose those conditions on the initial application for life insurance and medical questionnaire?
If the insured did have an underlying condition and failed to disclose it, the insurer will argue that that condition was the cause of death and deny the claim due to misrepresentation.
Tactic #2 – Claiming that the Insured’s Death Occurred Too Long After Contracting Coronavirus
If the insured contracted the coronavirus, recovers, but later dies, the insurance company will likely look for any applicable exclusion to apply to deny the claim rather than attribute it to the coronavirus.
Tactic #3 – Denying a Claim When the Insured Died During the Contestability Period
Any mistake or omission on the insured’s initial application and medical questionnaire will trigger claim denial during the first two years after purchasing the policy, even if that mistake or omission had nothing to do with the death.
Tactic #4 – Claiming there was Misrepresentation on the Insured’s Application or Medical Questionnaire
The Insured Had No Knowledge of Coronavirus
If the insured did not know that he or she was positive for COVID-19, took out an insurance policy, and later died due to the coronavirus, the insurer will deny the claim based on misrepresentation.
In one recent case, the insured did not know he had COPD and died from it. Though the insurance company claimed misrepresentation, we were able to show that the insured had no knowledge of his condition and we were able to get our client paid.
The Insured Failed to Disclose Coronavirus Hospitalization or Treatments
If the insured knew that he or she had the coronavirus, was hospitalized, and recovered, and later obtained a life insurance policy, this may be problematic. If the insured disclosed that he had the coronavirus but did not disclose the hospitalization and treatments received there, the insurer will almost certainly deny a claim for death benefits due to misrepresentation.
In another recent case, the agent made a mistake in filling out the medical questionnaire for the insured. She disclosed her heart condition to her agent, but the agent failed to record it. Because the agent’s mistake was not enough to prove fraud on the part of the insured, we were able to get our client paid.
Tactic #5 – Denying a Claim Because the Insured Traveled to a Coronavirus Hotbed Which Was Deemed Unacceptable for Travel
If a travel destination was deemed unacceptable for travel and the insured went there anyway and contracted the coronavirus and died, beneficiaries’ claims will be denied due to that exclusion.
Tactic #6 – Applying the Natural Disaster Exclusion
We suspect that life insurance companies will attempt to apply the natural disaster exclusion to deny claims during this pandemic. This is a developing theory that we will update when and if claims are denied on this basis.
Tactic #7 – Applying the Act of War or Terrorism Exclusion
There is a political faction in our nation that has theorized that the coronavirus was not naturally-occurring, but was man-made as a weapon and was released either intentionally or unintentionally.
If evidence comes to light supporting this theory, life insurance companies will try to invoke the Act of War or Terrorism exclusion to deny claims.
How Life Insurance Companies will Deny AD&D Claims Due to Coronavirus
Accidental Death and Dismemberment insurance (AD&D) covers serious injuries and deaths caused by unforeseen circumstances. If an insured contracted the coronavirus, death from the coronavirus will not be covered as AD&D does not typically cover death from disease. However, if the insured contracted coronavirus, recovered, and later died from other causes, the insurer will try to argue that the death was coronavirus-related and deny coverage.
We’ve had many cases like this. In one recent case, the insured died of emesis while hospitalized due to pneumonia. We argued successfully that the pre-existing condition (pneumonia) did not preclude death by an unrelated accident, and we were able to get our client paid the AD&D death benefit.
Why Coronavirus Deaths Will Trigger Life Insurance Claim Denials and What You Can Do About it
The pandemic is a developing situation. Every day, more is being discovered about how COVID-19 is transmitted, how it can be transmitted by asymptomatic carriers, how highly contagious it is, and who is most at risk of death. For the latest, most-reliable information about COVID-19 and the coronavirus itself, visit the Center for Disease Control here or the U.S. government website here.
As the situation evolves both medically and politically and insurers begin to respond to coronavirus-related claims, this article will be updated. Bookmark this page for the latest information about the coronavirus and life insurance death benefit claims.
In the meantime, Boonswang Law is ready to respond to all life insurance companies’ handling of claims during this crisis. The life insurance attorneys at Boonswang Law will fight for the rights of beneficiaries who have lost loved ones due to the pandemic, or due to any other circumstances related to Accelerated Death Benefits or Critical Illness policies during this trying time. If you or anyone you know is involved in these situations, let us help you get paid.
