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Our team of Nebraska life insurance lawyers have decades of experience fighting for the rights of life insurance beneficiaries in Nebraska.
Everyone knows how life insurance should work: someone buys a life insurance policy to ensure the financial well-being of their loved ones. They then pay premiums during the policy term to maintain life insurance coverage until the policy term ends or they die.
You might think that if the policyholder dies within the policy term, their beneficiaries automatically receive the death benefit. Unfortunately, this is rarely the case. Life insurance companies have no incentive to pay beneficiaries because they only make money for their shareholders when they collect premiums and then deny claims.
If you feel your life insurance claim was wrongly denied or is being unfairly delayed, the Nebraska life insurance lawyers at Boonswang Law can help you. Call us today to discuss your case, free of charge.
The Life Insurance Lawyers at Boonswang Law Help Beneficiaries from these Nebraska Cities and their Surrounding Areas:
- Omaha
- Lincoln
- Bellevue
- Grand Island
- Kearney
- Fremont
- Hastings
- Norfolk
- Columbus
- North Platte
- Papillion
- Las Vista
- Scottsbluff
- South Sioux City
- Beatrice
Contact Boonswang Law Today to Discuss Your Life Insurance Claim with a Nebraska Life Insurance Lawyer
Common Reasons Life Insurance Companies Deny Claims in Nebraska
Policyholder Misrepresentation
In their initial application and medical questionnaire, a policyholder must disclose personal details such as occupation, address, date of birth, marital status, personal habits such as smoking or drinking alcohol, hobbies, current medications, and health history.
Based on the information the policyholder discloses, an insurance adjuster will calculate the risk that the policyholder will die within the policy term. Policyholders at greater risk of dying within the policy term pay higher premiums than policyholders at less risk.
If a policyholder omits information or makes a mistake, the life insurance company may allege that the policyholder misrepresented themselves in order to get a lower premium payment. The life insurance company will then retroactively cancel the policy due to the alleged fraud and deny beneficiaries’ claims for death benefits.
You should contest it if the denial was due to alleged misrepresentation. Often what is allegedly misrepresentation was a simple mistake, or the policyholder did not understand the question, or the insurance agent completing the form for the policyholder made a mistake. Call us and let us look into it for you.
Call Boonswang Law’s Nebraska Life Insurance Lawyers Today to Discuss Your Life Insurance Claim
For decades our experienced life insurance attorneys have been helping life insurance beneficiaries throughout Nebraska get their death benefits paid. Don’t let insurance companies take advantage of you! Contact us to discuss your claim. Your initial no-obligation consultation is free of charge. We are ready to fight for you!
Insurance Company Misinterpreted Policy Terms
Life insurance companies frequently interpret the terms of a policy in such a way as to deny beneficiaries their payout. Remember, life insurance companies only make money for their shareholders when they collect premiums but deny death benefit claims.
Call us if you feel the insurance company has unfairly and improperly denied your life insurance claim. You can discuss your claim with us in a free, no-obligation consultation.
Nonpayment of Premiums and Lapse of Coverage
A policyholder must pay premiums as they come due to maintain life insurance coverage. If they fail to pay premiums, life insurance coverage may end and their beneficiaries’ claims may be denied.
If your life insurance claim was denied because coverage lapsed due to unpaid premiums, call us. We may be able to get you paid. Terminating life insurance coverage is highly regulated in every state, and all too often life insurance companies and employers who provide group life insurance coverage to their employees fail to follow those regulations. Under these circumstances we have been able to get our beneficiary clients paid.
Cause of Death Excluded from Coverage
All life insurance policies list exclusions, which are causes of death excluded from coverage under that particular policy. Exclusions vary among policies, however, death due to self-inflicted injuries and death from acts of war or terrorism are commonly-found exclusions.
The life insurance company may try to shoe-horn the policyholder’s death into one of the listed exclusions. When this happens, we investigate and are often able to show that none of the listed exclusions apply, and our clients get paid.
What You Should Expect When You Work with Boonswang Law’s Nebraska Life Insurance Lawyers
We know that you have probably never worked with a life insurance lawyer before and don’t know what a life insurance lawyer can do for you. Do you even need a lawyer to file or contest your life insurance claim? We make the process easier for you and we know how to fight back and get you your payout. We promise that we will:
- Review the applicable policy terms to determine coverage and exclusions
- Review all correspondence from 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 you your payout
- Investigate all allegations made by the life insurance company in denying your claim
- Litigate your claim in court against the life insurance company if necessary
Life insurance companies are just like any other business – they must make their profit margins a priority. The more in premium payments a life insurance company collects and the fewer death benefit claims they pay out, the more money they make for their shareholders. In other words, the interests of the life insurance company are at odds with your interests and the policyholder’s interests.
The NE life insurance lawyers at Boonswang Law Firm will fight to get you the death benefits you deserve after your loved one’s death.
Frequent Nebraska Life Insurance Questions
What Should I Do if My Life Insurance Claim is Denied?
You should contest it. When you received the denial letter, you should have also received instructions on how to contest the denial of your claim. Many valid life insurance claims are initially denied and then paid when you fight back. Call us for help – put our decades of experience to work for you.
How Long Should it Take for Life Insurance to Pay Out?
Typically a beneficiary will receive life insurance death benefits within 30-60 days of filing their claim.
If this time period has elapsed and you have not received your payout, contact us. If the life insurance company unreasonably delayed your payout, you may receive interest on the death benefits!
The Life Insurance Company Says the Policy Lapsed, Can I Still Get a Payout?
It is possible to get the death benefits paid despite lapse if you can show that the lapse was not the fault of the policyholder. You should contest the claim denial.
There are many instances in which lapse is not the fault of the policyholder. For example, if an employer failed to give the policyholder conversion papers or otherwise improperly administered the policy, the beneficiary will still get paid. If the life insurance company failed to send the policyholder the legally-required notices of lapse, the beneficiary will still get paid. If the policyholder was eligible for disability waiver of premium and did not get it, the beneficiary will get paid.
Who is Authorized to Change a Life Insurance Beneficiary Designation in NE?
Only the policyholder is authorized to change their life insurance beneficiary designation, and they can do so at any time and to whomever they wish, as long as not under court order. If someone else changes their beneficiary, they have committed fraud.
If you suspect a fraudulent change in beneficiary designation, contact an experienced NE life insurance attorney to help you contest that designation immediately.
What Happens If the Beneficiary Dies Before the Life Insurance Policyholder?
If the policyholder did not update their beneficiary designation when the primary beneficiary died, 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 can be paid to the policyholder’s estate.
If death benefits are paid to a policyholder’s estate, those funds become subject to the claims of the policyholder’s creditors. To avoid this, policyholders should keep their beneficiary designations up to date.
What if there is No Beneficiary Listed on the Life Insurance Policy?
As when the beneficiary has predeceased the policyholder, the life insurance company will pay out to the policyholder’s estate.
Just Prior to Death, the Beneficiary Designation Changed from Me to Someone Else, Can I Contest It?
If you suspect the change happened fraudulently or under duress, you can contest the beneficiary designation change. Fraudulent beneficiary change is very difficult to prove, so be sure to contact an experienced life insurance beneficiary attorney for help with litigating this.
Can the Beneficiary Designation Change After the Policyholder’s Death?
Absolutely not! If the beneficiary designation changed after the date of the policyholder’s death, that change is fraudulent. Contact an experienced life insurance beneficiary attorney immediately for help.
How Can I Find Out if a Loved One Had Life Insurance?
You will have to investigate on your own, as there is no list of all policyholders available.
Try searching the contents of the policyholder’s safe-deposit box and desk drawers for life insurance policy documents. You might also look through their recent mail for premium notices and through bank account statements for evidence of premium payments. Ask your loved one’s employer if they had group life insurance through work.
Can I Share Life Insurance Benefits with My Siblings?
You sure can! There is no law preventing you from sharing the death benefit with anyone you choose. In fact, it is pretty common for a policyholder to name only one child as a beneficiary with this expectation.
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