Life Insurance Lawyer Serving North Dakota, Fighting Denials
The North Dakota Life Insurance Lawyers at Boonswang Law Will Fight for You!
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As life insurance lawyers serving North Dakota, we have decades of experience helping beneficiaries get their life insurance claim paid.
Life insurance should work this way – a policyholder decides that they need to ensure the financial stability of dependents or other loved ones. They purchase a life insurance policy and pay premiums to maintain coverage until the policy term ends or the policyholder dies. If the policyholder dies within the coverage term, their beneficiaries receive the death benefit.
Unfortunately, it is rarely if ever this simple. Life insurance companies only make money when they deny or delay paying claims, often unfairly and incorrectly. In this way they thwart the wishes of their client, the policyholder.
If you are struggling to file your claim, or the life insurance company denied or is delaying paying your claim, the ND life insurance lawyers at Boonswang Law can help you.
Our North Dakota Life Insurance Lawyers Have Helped Beneficiaries From These Cities and the Surrounding Areas:
- Fargo
- Bismarck
- Grand Forks
- Minot
- Williston
- Dickinson
- Mandan
- Jamestown
- Wahpeton
- Wahpeton
- Watford City
- Valley City
- Grafton
- Lincoln
- Beulah
Call Today for Your Free Consultation with an North Dakota Life Insurance Lawyer at Boonswang Law
Common Life Insurance Claim Denial Reasons in North Dakota
Policy Lapse
If a policyholder fails to pay premiums when they come due, the policy will lapse and life insurance coverage will end.
If your claim was denied due to lapse, don’t just take no for an answer. Terminating life insurance coverage is highly regulated in every state including North Dakota. Frequently life insurance companies and employers who provide group life insurance coverage to their employees fail to follow those regulations, resulting in nonpayment of premiums that is not the fault of the policyholder.
When a policy lapses and that lapse was not the fault of the policyholder, we have been able to get our beneficiary clients paid. Call us for help.
Talk with the North Dakota Life Insurance Lawyers at Boonswang Law Today
Our life insurance attorneys have been helping beneficiaries across the country get their claims paid for decades.
Don’t let the life insurance company take advantage of you! They have a team of lawyers on their side – you need a team of lawyers on your side too, and we are ready to fight for you. Your initial no-obligation consultation is free of charge. Call us to discuss your life insurance claim.
A Policy Exclusion Applies
All life insurance policies list causes of death excluded from coverage, called “exclusions.” The exact list of exclusions will vary between life insurance companies and even between individual policies, however, death from self-inflicted injuries and death from acts of war or terrorism are common exclusions in life insurance policies.
Often, when a life insurance company alleges that an exclusion applies to the policyholder’s death and denies a claim, we investigate further and can show that the exclusion does not apply. If your claim was denied because an exclusion allegedly applies to the cause of death, call us. We may be able to help.
Policy Terms Misinterpreted
Unfortunately for life insurance beneficiaries, it is very common for life insurance companies to interpret the terms of the policy in such a way as to deny their claims for death benefits. Remember, life insurance companies only make money for their shareholders when they collect premiums but deny death benefit claims.
Alleged Policyholder Misrepresentation
In order to determine the risk of the policyholder dying within the policy term, insurers require policyholders to disclose all personal information such as name, date of birth, address, occupation, health history, and lifestyle habits and hobbies. The insurance adjusters calculate the degree of risk the policyholder will die within the policy term based on this information. Those at greater risk of dying within the policy term pay more in premiums than those at less risk.
If the policyholder made a mistake or omitted information on their initial application for life insurance, the life insurance company will allege that the policyholder misrepresented themselves in order to get a lower premium payment. The life insurance company then uses that alleged misrepresentation as an excuse to retroactively cancel the policy and deny beneficiaries’ claims.
We have been able to get our beneficiary clients paid under these circumstances after we investigate. If your life insurance claim was denied due to misrepresentation, call us.
What to Expect from Boonswang Law’s North Dakota Life Insurance Lawyers
We know you have probably never worked with a life insurance lawyer before. Know that when you choose to work with Boonswang law to get your life insurance claim paid, you can rely on our team of experienced ND life insurance lawyers to:
- Review the life insurance policy to determine coverage and exclusions, and explain any problems in coverage to you
- Correspond with the life insurance company and identify the reason or reasons for delay or denial of your claim for death benefits
- Negotiate with the life insurance company to get your claim paid
- Investigate the allegations made by the life insurance company in denying your claim
- Fiercely litigate your claim against the life insurance company when necessary
Like any other type of business, life insurance companies seek to make a profit for their shareholders. If the life insurance company collects more in premium payments than they pay out in claims for death benefits, they make more profit. In other words, the interests of the life insurance company are at odds with the interests of policyholders and beneficiaries.
The ND life insurance lawyers at Boonswang Law Firm will fight to get you the death benefits you deserve after your loved one’s death.
Frequent Questions About Life Insurance in North Dakota
My Claim Was Denied Due to Policy Lapse, What Should I Do?
You should contest or dispute that claim denial. It is possible to receive the death benefit if the lapse in coverage was not the policyholder’s fault.
For example, if the policyholder was eligible for disability waiver of premium and did not get it, you may still get paid. If the life insurance company failed to send the policyholder the legally-required notices of lapse, you may still get paid. If an employer failed to give the policyholder conversion papers or improperly administered the policy, you may still get paid.
Call us and let us investigate why the policy lapsed. Our help has no up-front cost to you because we work on a contingency basis.
How Much Time Do I Have to Dispute My Denied Life Insurance Claim?
You have 60 days if the policy was an employer-sponsored group life insurance policy, under federal ERISA law. For all other types of life insurance, there is no time limit. However, the sooner you dispute a denied life insurance claim the better because we have a better chance of collecting evidence that your claim should be paid.
How Can I Find Out if Someone I Know Had A Life Insurance Policy?
You will have to investigate on your own because there is no nationwide list of all life insurance policyholders.
You might search the contents of your loved one’s safe-deposit box and their desk drawers for policy documents. Also look through your loved one’s recent mail for premium notices and through bank account statements for evidence of premium payments.
Who Can Change a Life Insurance Beneficiary Designation in ND?
Only a policyholder can change a life insurance beneficiary designation. If someone else changed the beneficiary, this is fraud. Contact an experienced ND life insurance attorney immediately to help you contest that change of beneficiary designation.
What Happens to the Death Benefits if the Beneficiary Dies Before the Policyholder?
When the primary beneficiary dies before the policyholder, the life insurance company will pay the death benefit to the secondary beneficiary or the contingent beneficiary.
If the policyholder did not designate secondary or contingent beneficiaries, the death benefit may pay to the policyholder’s estate and becomes subject to the claims of the policyholder’s creditors. A policyholder can avoid this by keeping their beneficiary designation up-to-date.
What if there is No Named Life Insurance Beneficiary?
As in the situation when the named beneficiary has predeceased the policyholder and there are no contingent or secondary beneficiaries, the life insurance company will pay out to the policyholder’s estate.
Am I Allowed to Share Life Insurance Benefits with My Siblings?
Of course! You can share life insurance proceeds with anyone you choose. It is common for a policyholder to name one child as a beneficiary and for that child to share with siblings.
Can I Contest Death Benefits if the Beneficiary Changed Recently?
First, know that a life insurance policyholder can change their beneficiary designation at any time up until death. However, you can and should contest a beneficiary change if you suspect a fraudulent change, if the change happened under duress, or if the mental health of the policyholder was failing.
This type of case is very difficult to prove, so be sure to contact an experienced life insurance beneficiary attorney for help.
Can the Beneficiary Designation Change After the Policyholder’s Death?
Not under any circumstances. A beneficiary change after the date of the policyholder’s death is fraudulent. Contact an experienced life insurance beneficiary attorney immediately.
When Should a Spouse Contest a Life Insurance Beneficiary Designation?
If the spouse or ex-spouse of the policyholder should be the beneficiary, for example, under court order to insure child or spousal support, but the policy named someone else, they should contest it. Also, if they suspect the beneficiary changed to someone else under duress or fraudulently, they should contest it.
Life Insurance Attorneys Serving These States
- Alabama
- Alaska
- Arizona
- Arkansas
- California
- Colorado
- Connecticut
- Delaware
- Florida
- Georgia
- Hawaii
- Idaho
- Illinois
- Indiana
- Iowa
- Kansas
- Kentucky
- Louisiana
- Maine
- Maryland
- Massachusetts
- Michigan
- Minnesota
- Missouri
- Mississippi
- Montana
- Nebraska
- Nevada
- New Hampshire
- New Jersey
- New Mexico
- New York
- North Carolina
- North Dakota
- Ohio
- Oklahoma
- Oregon
- Pennsylvania
- Rhode Island
- South Carolina
- South Dakota
- Tennessee
- Texas
- US Virgin Islands
- Utah
- Vermont
- Virginia
- Washington
- West Virginia
- Wisconsin
- Wyoming