Life Insurance Claims

Fighting for life insurance benefits can be a significant struggle for many families who are looking for financial support they need at their time of loss and grief.  Unfortunately, denial of coverage on life insurance claims is a reality for a variety of policyholder beneficiaries, which is what makes finding help from New York’s insurance law attorneys such a high priority.  The attorneys at the law firm of Harms & Harrigan, LLP in Woodbury, NY are committed to providing professional and trustworthy service for those hoping to make the most of their life insurance claims.

Where To Begin

Fighting denial of coverage begins with understanding how and why your insurance company decided to deny or delay payment.  In some cases, this could be because of mistakes on their part or otherwise inaccurate information in their corporate data banks.  In other situations, insurance companies may deny or delay coverage in bad faith in an effort to boost their bottom line.

When processing life insurance claims, insurance companies are expected to act in good faith, only refuting their policyholder’s claims for legitimate reasons.  Life Insurance contracts will state any exclusions or loss of benefits clearly.  Unfortunately, there are many issues that arise with insurance companies with respect to the payment of claims, which is why consulting with an experienced law firm is crucial to best protect your rights under your loved ones policy.

Making Your Case

While there is generally no cause of action for bad faith in New York, we will fight to bring you justice.  Here are a few of the more common issues we see when evaluating a case:

Inaccurate evaluation of your loved ones claim by the Insurance Company

Insurance Company’s failure to pay benefits in a timely manner

Insurance Company’s failure to pay the full death benefit

Insurance Company knowingly misrepresenting the terms of coverage agreed upon.

Please see the attached link from the CBS television show 60 Minutes with regard to these and other issues facing policyholders and their loved ones.

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/60-minutes-life-insurance-investigation-lesley-stahl/

These and other issues are much more common than policyholders may realize, and insurance companies often rely on their insured’s family members lack of knowledge or lack of initiative to take advantage.  The key to staying on top of your insurance benefits is to speak to the people who know the law best.  Avoid negotiating directly with the insurance company as this can often fail to the get the results you and your loved ones deserve.

If you are in need of assistance with your life insurance case, please contact our law firm.  We dedicate ourselves to each of our clients individually, and do whatever we can to get our clients the life insurance benefit their loved one purchased from the insurance company.