9 Ways Life Insurance Will Not Pay Out
Last updated: March 28th, 2023
Reviewed by
Grant Desselle
Licensed Insurance Agent
Table of Contents
1. Suicide
A common circumstance in which a life insurance policy will not pay out is in the case of suicide. Depending on what state you live in, there could be a suicide clause in your policy. If there is such a clause, and if you were to commit suicide within the specified time frame, your beneficiary would only get the premiums back, not the death benefit.
This suicide clause is an incontestability clause, a window of time during which the insurance company can investigate and deny claims. The period is usually one to two years in most states, and it begins as soon as the insurance policy goes into effect.
The clause protects life insurance companies from people who would take out a large policy and then commit suicide for the “betterment” of their family’s financial situation. The thought of doing something like that might seem bizarre to most people, but before the incontestability “suicide clause” went into effect it occurred more often than you might think.
Claim denied? Get help.
- Policy written in the United States? We can help!
- Policy amount over $10,000? We can help!
2. Withholding Information On The Application
The insurance company is going to investigate the cause of your death when a claim arises within the first 2 years of the date of issue. You can be sure of that. The first 2 years are called the contestability period.
It will look at the events that led to your death and compare them against your original application. If the company finds that you were less than forthright, or if you somehow forgot to mention that you have a health condition or you were involved in dangerous activities all the way back to the time you applied for coverage and you didn’t mention them, it can deny payment on the claim.
In order for a life insurance company to deny a claim, the misrepresented information must be considered “material”.
Information is a “material representation” if it would have caused the insurer to change the terms of the policy with different premiums, or have been unwilling to issue it in the first place.
If an investigation finds you misrepresented facts on your application, the insurer has a couple of options.
- It can figure out how much premium you should have been paying based on the new facts and reduce the death benefit by that amount.
- Or the insurance company can deny the claim.
How the situation is handled depends on the state laws, the size of the claim, and the severity of the misrepresentation.
Each state has its own laws about the incontestability clause, so a claim could be denied due to a material misrepresentation whether there was intent to deceive or not. In most states, a policy can be voided even if the material misrepresentation has no connection with the cause of death.
In Nationwide v. Nelson, the insured had been convicted of a felony but answered the question on the application that he had not. The defendant insisted that it was not a deliberate attempt to mislead the insurer, but the court ruled that intentional misrepresentation is not required to void the policy.
In Meadlock v. American Family Life Assurance Company of Columbus, the insured failed to disclose heart issues on the application and subsequently died of ventricular fibrillation. The insurer refused to pay, citing material misrepresentations.
3. Dangerous Activities
You may have heard of professional athletes having a certain clause in their contract that does not allow them to participate in what are considered dangerous activities. That could be something fairly obvious, like skydiving, or even something far more common, such as riding a motorcycle.
The same applies to a life insurance policy. Think about it. Life insurance is all about risk management. If you are jumping out of an airplane with a parachute (that may or may not work) on your back, you’re a higher-risk applicant than someone who doesn’t engage in that kind of activity. It’s best to be honest about your risky hobbies or lifestyle when asked. If you are actively involved in one of the dangerous activities listed on the application, you can still do it, but you will need to pay to be protected.
4. Illegal Activities
This goes back to that earlier statement about common sense. If you die while committing a crime or participating in an illegal activity, the life insurance company can refuse to make a payment. For example, if you are killed while stealing a car, your beneficiary won’t be paid.
Okay. That one’s fairly obvious. But this next point might surprise you. What if you’re doing something illegal and you don’t even realize it? Maybe you’re walking on private property. Trespassing is a crime — even if you don’t know you’re trespassing. Let’s say you’re being chased by a big dog, and you have a heart attack and die. If it turns out that you were trespassing, your claim could be denied.
5. Act of War
Some life insurance policies have an Act of War exclusion. It’s not designed to exclude soldiers. Rather, it’s in place to deny claims for civilians who are killed in wars or by acts of war, such as journalists whose job takes them into the midst of battle on a regular basis, or people who travel to regions of the world where there’s armed conflict.
6. Living Outside of the United States
Here’s one you may not have considered. Let’s say you take out a life insurance policy while you’re living in the United States, and then you move to another country.
There could be a clause in the policy that excludes the payment of a death benefit if you are not living in the U.S. at the time of your death. Be sure to look for any mention of this in your contract, especially if you see yourself leaving the U.S. in the near future.
7. Fraud
When a death claim occurs after the 2 year contestability period, the insurance company must prove fraud to deny a claim.
Insurance fraud is a “specific” intent crime. This means the prosecutor must prove that the person involved knowingly committed an act to defraud.
Life insurance is a type of contract, and with all contracts, fraud can void the entire agreement.
If you provide material misrepresentations with the intent to defraud or to facilitate fraud, you may also be guilty of insurance fraud, which is a crime.
8. No Insurable Interest
In the field of personal insurance, one is held to have an unlimited interest in one’s own life. “Insurable interest” must exist at the time of the contract. Continued insurable interest, however, need not be demonstrated. A divorced woman may continue life insurance on the life of her former husband and legitimately collect the proceeds upon his death even though she is no longer his wife.
For someone to purchase an insurance policy on your life and be considered the beneficiary (making them beneficiary-owner), they must be able to demonstrate an insurable interest. Do note that even with an insurable interest, anyone who wants to insure your life would also require your consent before a policy could be issued. There are some exceptions, such as a parent buying coverage for a minor child.
Insurable interest examples:
1. In the case of individuals related closely by blood or by law, a substantial interest is engendered by love and affection.
2. In the case of other persons, a lawful and substantial economic interest in having the life, health or bodily safety of the individual insured continue, as distinguished from an interest which would arise only by, or would be enhanced in value by, the death, disablement or injury of the individual insured.
3. An individual party to a contract or option for the purchase or sale of an interest in a business partnership or firm, or of shares of stock of a closed corporation or of an interest in the shares, has an insurable interest in the life of each individual party to the contract and for the purposes of the contract only, in addition to any insurable interest which may otherwise exist as to the life of the individual.
4. A charitable organization as provided in section 501(c)(3) of the internal revenue code, which has a policy ownership interest has an insurable interest in the life of each proposed insured who joins with the charitable organization in applying for a life insurance policy naming the charitable organization as owner and irrevocable beneficiary.
If a life insurance policy lacks an insurable interest at inception, it is voidable It, therefore, follows that if no insurance policy ever legally came into effect, then neither did any of its provisions, including the statutorily required incontestability clause. The incontestable clause is no less a part of the contract than any other provision of it. As a result, the incontestability provision does not bar an insurer from asserting a claim on the basis of a lack of insurable interest after the incontestability period expires.2
9. Policy Replacement
If you do replace existing coverage, the new policy may contain new suicide and contestable periods. The following would be considered replacement: you stop paying premiums on an existing policy or surrender an existing policy before or shortly after applying to us or you borrow from an existing policy to pay premiums for the insurance for which you are applying. State law may define replacement to include other situations.
Read the fine print and get insured with confidence
By no means is this a comprehensive list of reasons life insurance won’t pay. These are, however, some of the more common instances.
Bottom line? Be completely honest, and don’t ignore the fine print on your life insurance policy. You don’t want to be responsible for losing the benefits of that policy because you “didn’t know” or because you thought you could get away with something by not being 100% truthful. The best advice is to be sure to read your entire insurance contract — including and especially the fine print — before you sign it.
If you’re unsure of anything, just ask. That’s what our claims specialist is for, to guide and direct you to the insurance policy that’s best for you. They will read the fine print with you and help you understand what it all means, especially as it pertains to your particular situation.
To talk with our experienced Life Insurance Lawyer, contact our preferred life insurance claims specialist.
Have Questions?
- Talk with an experienced life insurance claims specialist.
- Free consult to discuss your situation.
FAQ’s
Reasons life insurance won’t payout?
- Suicide
- Smoking, or another health-related issue
- Dangerous activities
- Illegal activities
- Act of war
- Living outside of the United States
- Fraud
- No Insurable Interest
- Replacement
Does life insurance pay for suicidal death?
Depending on what state you live in, there could be a suicide clause in your policy. If there is such a clause, and if you were to commit suicide within the specified time frame, your beneficiary would only get the premiums back, not the death benefit.
This suicide clause is an incontestability clause, a window of time during which the insurance company can investigate and deny claims. The period is usually one to two years in most states, and it begins as soon as the insurance policy goes into effect.
How long do you have to have life insurance before you die?
It depends. If it is a term, universal or whole life policy it is same-day coverage once it is in force. If it is a guaranteed issue policy, it can be up to 2 years.
References
- http://www.insurance.ca.gov/01-consumers/105-type/95-guides/15-gen/insur-fraud-is-felony.cfm
- https://www.opic.texas.gov/life-insurance/rights/
- https://content.naic.org/sites/default/files/inline-files/JIR-ZA-34-03-EL.pdf
- https://www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/18/18-7709/86616/20190205152949620_00000012.pdf
- https://courts.delaware.gov/opinions/download.aspx?ID=160700
- https://casetext.com/case/meadlock-v-am-family-life-assurance-co-of-columbus
Claims Assistance
Enter your information and our life insurance claims specialist will review your case and provide assistance regarding your options.
Tell us your situation.
- a brief description of your issue, including the location where any claim might be
filed should it go to court.
Leave a Reply
Want to join the discussion?Feel free to contribute!
Leave a Reply
See what you qualify for by answering some health questions.
-
Brian is the founder and CEO of Insurist and carries Life, Health, and Property & Casualty licenses in all 50 U.S. states. Since 2013, Brian has been a member of Million Dollar Round Table, a designation for the top 1% of financial advisors worldwide. Brian has been featured in Yahoo! Finance, Money.com, Entrepreneur.com, Life Happens, Forbes, MSN, and Good Financial Cents. Brian’s goal is to show customers the best products, the quickest answers to their questions, and provide expert advice.
-
Grant's past experience includes work as a licensed sales agent for Hagerty Insurance. He has reviewed thousands of existing auto policies across the nation and issued hundreds of new ones on everything ranging from classic cars undergoing restoration to modern exotics and motorcycles.
My father carried life insurance through Kroger for years. When he died they told me that as the sole survivor they don’t have to pay me anything. What is the point of him paying for the insurance if I cannot collect? Help me please. I believe I have 2 years and in April 2017 it will be 2 years. Call me at 7736837742 Thanks
This is terrible. We don’t sell insurance through Kroger, so I suggest contacting an attorney specializing in this. I did a search and found http://www.lifeinsuranceattorney.com/. You will want to make sure you have at least the policy number to provide an attorney. The social security number of your father may be sufficient.
I’ve been doing a lot of research and from what I have read, I have yet to find an insurance company that isn’t filled with crooks!!!! Jesus Christ what a nightmare it must be to pay life insurance for years just to die and leave such unspeakable burdens to your loved ones!!! Such evil in this earth.At this point I’m just thinking of putting money in my savings every week. better than trusting these THIEVES that will call you 24/7 to sell you insurance and will be all super nice in the beginning in order to get your money but then when its time to pay out just disappear or find loop holes to not pay. What scum of the earth!!!
Megan I hope that all went well and that you were able to stick it to these big corporations that think they can get away with whatever they want just because they have money!! give us an update!!! hell email me @[email protected] if you did manage to get what was rightfully yours.
There’re no “loop holes.” You just have to read the fine print and make sure you understand the terms and conditions of the contract before appending your signature. If you don’t understand any part of the terms of the agreement (or contract), make sure you seek clarification before signing the contract. Once the insurer issues the policy and delivers it to the insured, the contract is binding.
When a claim is reported, the insurance company would investigate to ascertain that the claim for which the insured is seeking, is in consonance with the terms of the contract. If an insured violates any of the terms of the agreement, this could lead to denial of benefits. For instance, if an insured goes to rob a bank 2 months after obtaining a life insurance police, and dies in the process; the insurance company would decline benefit because the cause of the insured death wasn’t legal.
That is crap, my wife just passed away, the life insurance she was paying into is now trying to say that she was not insured with them for life insurance, yet I have papers saying other wise, they keep giving me all kinds of ******** (edited by admin) stories after for 90 days. now they are telling me she never had life insurance with them. what do I do this life insurance company is a Quebec Canada company and they are very big and all over Canada.
I hate to think of all the people who are paying into there life insurance company
not knowing that the payment will never come with out there love ones having to put up a fight and paying most of there money into layers.
Hi Will!
Sorry to hear about your wife’s passing. I can understand how this issue only adds more to the overall stress level.
Canada has a different set of rules and regulations regarding life insurance. While there are strong similarities between the US and Canada insurance laws, each jurisdiction brings its own different scope of differences. In this situation, reaching out to regulators and ombudsmen may be you next best recourse.
Since we are licensed for the United States, we don’t have much advice on what to do in Canada; however, I did find a resource for you to look at from the Canadian government that may assist you.
https://www.canada.ca/en/financial-consumer-agency/services/insurance/make-complaint.html
I hope this helps in some small way!
-Luke
I am finding out the same thing, After getting a whole life insurance from American Family Insurance, my agent that seems like a nice guy.. and claims to have my interest in mind …say’s that the sign up forms that I filled out for the insurance.. is actually the full policy.. HUH ?. He said there is no written Whole life insurance policy showing all written limitations and covenants…
That’s weird since I once was insured from my job..and I asked for the policy in full and they gave me the policy and it had very many pages describing coverage and limitations completely.
Because he is not forthright I will be cancelling the policy, and I went thru this whole physical and questions to get it.
Bill
Illinois
Typically, what you fill out from an agent is an application. From there, once underwritten, the policy is delivered to you for review. This can be done in person, through the mail, or delivered electronically depending on the company. I’m not sure about the experience this agent has, because insurance is a legal contact and is life insurance policies required to be given to the insured during their “free look” period. You may have made the right call on this one.
At True Blue, we do things by the book and ensure transparency when working with clients. There is 0% guess work when it comes to your life insurance and our agents make sure you have all the information you need, even after the policy is purchased. As a life insurance professional, I apologize for the lack of service you received from that agent and encourage you to reach out to us if you are ever needing coverage in the future.
-Luke
We took a nother ins policy out with colonial penn life we had one policy with them .i ask the lady on the phone if my husband die in 3 months will he be covered she said yes .but he die 10 months later.that he was cover for the full amount. Now they dont want to pay.what can i do about it.
Colonial Penn’s guaranteed issue product has a 2 year limited benefit period. All guaranteed acceptance policies have this. The limited period depends on the company, typically either 2 or 3 years. If the insured passes due to a health related death (non-accident), the company returns all the premium paid, plus interest.
The representative should have been very clear on this on this limitation of the policy, it is not good business practice to not explain this to customers.
https://www.colonialpenn.com/life-insurance-information/
If you have it in writing that the agent told you the incorrect information, email works too, you can contact your state insurance department for assistance.
what if the person dies with the two years and it was from an accident and was signed up from my work and did not even know about the two year clause
Hi Deborah!
This is one of the main reasons why I advocate against using an employer based life insurance policy as your sole source of protection. While it may be “free” or cheap, they own the policy and can make changes to it as they see fit without being required to get employee input or permission.
Even if he/she didn’t know about the 2 year clause, that would not change how the policy payouts.
I do recommend you follow up with a licensed attorney if you feel that there was any legal issues involved with situation.
Hope this helps!
-Luke
If you were talking to a call center representative, you could subpoena the call recording. Most call centers are 100% recorded.
DarrellWolfe.com
Just recently got Fidelity life insurance on myself .. I left fiance as beneficiary I am only 29 but am afraid of a car wreck happening honestly (many bad drivers I’m always having to avoid in my area) any ways I have awful family members that have robbed my home 2x now the second time they were prepared for me to show up with knives and etc. I have to keep moving but they always find out where I am .. if they do manage to kill me while robbing me next time, will my insurance still Grant my fiance the benefits?
Yes. Your life insurance policy should pay your fiance. Fidelity sells a few different policies including a term policy and an accidental death benefit policy. The accidental death policy does not cover deaths from health related causes. If something happens while someone is robbing your home or on the road in your car, it is considered an accident. Most companies do have an exclusion in which they do not pay out if you die while committing a felony.
Our father passed away two years ago. Prudential denied a claim before we even filed one and has to date not paid. He was in a MVA on his own property and died a week later from a slow brain bleed. They requested police report, autopsy report. They were told we had none of those things and gave them copies of his medical records. There was no substance abuse. We are at wits end. How do we make them pay?
I recommend you contact an attorney specializing in denied insurance claims. There are many questions they will need to ask about the particular policy you had. Was it a policy through work? Was it an accidental death benefit policy? Did the claim occur within the first two years of the policy issue date? I recommend you contact http://www.lifeinsuranceattorney.com/. Their phone number is (800) 330-2274.
Can a relative get insurance on me without my permission..?
No. This is not possible unless they impersonate you and forge your signature, which is illegal.
I Found that this statement is wow! I just found out a Relative had life ins on me. I did NOT know until by accident an Ins statement was left laying on my Dining table. Can I sue them?
Hi Brenda,
As I am not a lawyer, I can not comment on which legal action is best. However, I do recommend you contact the insurance company that wrote the policy and get clarification on the policy that was written without consent. From there you may want to discuss the matter with an attorney who specializes in insurance to get additional direction moving forward.
Hope this helps!
-Luke
Get life policy on anyone..?
No. Insurance companies are very strict regarding who you can get a policy on. They must have “insurable interest”. Anything outside your immediate family or business is typically off limits.
Aunt had Univeral LIfe for 50k, 21 year old policy. found out today after beinig told on June 2nd by Transamerican that I would receive 42k, that I would only be getting $52. why would this happen? I have a bill for the day she died and never receved anything stated policy was not active. Isnt the reason for UL to make payments off interest? Why would rep from Transamerica tell me 42K and then I get email today from compliance officer stating $52.00
Please help me understand
This does not sound right. If the policy had a cash value then it should have paid any missed premium payments automatically.
Midland life insurance dont want to pay because they need a report of death of us citizen abroad. I tried to get this while i am in US but the US embassy wanted document I dont have in US and now the insurance dont want to pay even though i paid the premium for over 2 decades.
This is a tough one. It is very hard to collect on an insurance policy without a death certificate. Can you get the death report from the country needed and then fax/email/mail the report to Midland? I know it sounds like a bunch of hoops to jump through, though I think the insurance company needs a death certificate in order to legally pay the claim.
You hear about all of these sad baby died in hot car stories. If they had insurance would it pay out to the family if this happened?
That is a tough question. My guess would be yes if it was deemed an accident.
Why would life insurance company request a Divorce
Degree? I have paid 30 years on a policy on my ex-spouse.
She may be wanting to make a change to the policy and only the owner can make changes.
Sometimes it is stipulated in a divorce decree who the owner of the policy must be and who the beneficiaries are.
My father passed away two years ago and still don’t know where his life insurance policy is located and with what company. He told me before me passed away that he took out a policy and I was the beneficiary. Just wondering how I would be able to locate the policy? Since I can’t find anything. I’m overwhelmed…
Try this service. https://eapps.naic.org/life-policy-locator/#/welcome
I’am trying to buy an life insurance that will cover accidental death or health death.what insurance would you recommend?
Hi Sara!
Our recommendation is based largely on what you are needing. Generally speaking, term life insurance works well for just about everyone and provides great coverage for the money.
Almost every life insurance policy will cover both accidental death and death by natural causes. Why don’t you give us a call at (866) 816-2100 and we can walk you through some options?
-Luke
Truly that they do not explain clauses. My daughter took out a policy on July 5, 2017 – for her, her two young daughters and her spouse. MY daughter has NEVER been a smoker. Tragically, on July 8, her 3 month old daughter (my granddaughter) was at the babysitter’s and sitter claims she laid her on her back but found her face down. She died that day (3 days after the policy) and death certificate says SUID and cause is undetermined. AS you can imagine, my daughter went through something horrific and was put on Xanax for her nerves and began smoking. So, for whatever reason, the insurance company said they needed to complete the application process and get my daughter’s blood and urine. Well, guess what? of course it came back that she had nicotine. So, they put her in a higher bracket and had her pay the differrence in now the higher premium. Insurance company (Farm Bureau in Texas) has denied the claim. This is a tragedy in itself.
My husband has been paying life insurance premiums through his paycheck with his employer all year. When we signed up for benefits for 2018 I was told he didn’t have life insurance for 2017. I feel if he had no contract they should refund his payments. Am I correct? Btw, the same goes for spouse and vision insurances.
It sounds like you are definitely due a refund if they were indeed deducting the payments from his paychecks. You may need to get verification of his payment stubs from his employer.
Insurance is regulated by both state and federal agencies, so I think it will be smooth getting your money back.
If they give you the run-around, ask to speak with their compliance department because you want to file a formal complaint.
Could 1 get insurance I have had a lung transplant and am on kidney dialysis
I’am a young 63 and I am healthier then I was 10 years ago.
Hi Cecil!
In your situation, I would recommend talking to one of our agents to see which company would be best given your current situation. If you want to see what may be available, take a look at https://www.truebluelifeinsurance.com/guaranteed-issue-life-insurance/ and request more information on the quote you like the most.
Thanks!
My husband was killed by a falling tree I have sent the insurance company everything they ask for x2 . Just received a letter asking me for full coroners autopsy report with toxicology . As I have told them due to the injury he had they only did an external and no toxicology , They have Sheriff’s report and lots of other documentation . Can they not pay due to this. Heartbroken
Hi Cindy!
I’m sorry to hear about your husband and the current problems you are having in getting the insurance company to pay out the claim. It is pretty standard for insurance companies to request information like this; however, they should be some internal process to be able to review and payout the claim with the information you have provided. If you haven’t already talked to them, I would call the person assigned to review the claim and talk more in-depth about not having the toxicology report to see if there are other work arounds available. Not every death gets a full autopsy and toxicology report, so there may be another way that this claim can be processed without the requested results.
If you have already called and they are still refusing to issue payment, you can reach out to your state’s Department of Insurance for further recourse on this matter.
-Luke
Does a life insurance company have to notify a client that the amount of there policy has changed or decreased over time and if so wouldn’t they have the client sign a new policy?
stating that this is the amount that they will have to pay each month to keep the premium.
Hi Kim!
It depends on which way you are looking at it. If you are talking about the face value (death benefit), unless it is a policy like a decreasing term or maybe a universal life policy, the death benefit will typically remain fixed at the agreed upon amount. Another factor in this is contestability. If the insurance company is inside the (usually) 2 year time-frame for contestibility and they see that there was misinformation in the original application (e.g saying you are a non-smoker, then they find out that you are), they reserve the right to redo the policy based on the new information or cancel the policy all together.
If you are talking about change in premiums (the money paid to keep the policy active), then that depends on the policy itself. If the policy isn’t a “level” policy, meaning the premium is locked at that rate, then the premiums can be raised and lowered at the company’s discretion. These type of products aren’t as popular as they used to be, as more people are opting for level policies.
I could give you more insight if I knew what type of policy it was and had the entire policy in front of me to review. When I work with clients, I hardly ever encourage policies of this nature. Nine times out of 10 a simple, affordable level term life insurance policy will work just fine for someone.
I hope this helped.
-Luke
Hi there, my father passed away last thursday (died in his sleep) and had taken out a very small 5K policy 10 months ago. The initial denial from the insurance company is for “policy not being in effect long enough” there is nothing in the fine print of the policy stating this – have you ever heard of this? The policy in fact states it is in effect from the date of the first premium payment. We are simply just asking for it to be paid out to cover his cremation. Thank you
Hi Michelle!
I am sorry to hear about the loss of your father.
Given the lack of information about the policy itself, it is really hard to give a definite answer as to why it is being denied as such.
Since it was a $5k policy, chances are this was some sort of low level final expense/guaranteed issue policy. Often times these policies have a “graded benefit” period (usually 2 years) where there is no coverage for health related deaths, only accidental. Most companies will offer a return of premium with interest, but that isn’t to say that there aren’t companies that do not provide that option. It all depends on what is written in the policy.
In some cases, these types of policies are predatory in nature, whether it be from a sales perspective or an operations perspective. Agents that represent companies that refuse to pay out tarnish the reputation of the entire industry, making good agencies who value honesty and integrity (like True Blue) have to work harder to restore customer trust in what we do.
You are right in that coverage begins on the date of the first premium payment and if there is no language defining minimum time-frame before a benefit is eligible to be paid out, you may have a compliance issue on your hands. Since the industry is heavily regulated at the state level and insurance policies are merely legal contracts, discussing this matter with an attorney or the state Department of Insurance may be your next best step.
Before you go the legal route, give the insurance company a call to get more clarification on where it states in the policy about the length of time the policy needs to be in effect before it pays out a benefit.
I hope this helps and you get this resolved quickly.
-Luke
I purchased UL Policy in dec 2015 they sent medical examiner got cleared and policy went into affect feb 2016 underwriting I assumed ? I went for annual Pap smear in February found out I had cyst or mass in the same month February? Had hysterectomy in March 04 and came back stage three cancer I have paid the policy for two years now battling cancer will policy pay in the end
Hi Angela!
I am sorry to hear about your current condition.
Based on what you have told me, the policy is past the standard contestability period and SHOULD pay out without concern. After this period, there is very little insurance companies can do to change or cancel the policy. Generally speaking, at this point the insurance company can only cancel the policy for lack of payment.
Hope this helps.
-Luke
I recently put in a claim for my late father’s life insurance pay out being his immediate next of kin and stand in POA I just found out that someone else non related was listed as his beneficary his ex girlfriend. Does she receive the pay out even though I am his next of kin and all of his caretakers know what a horrible person she was to my dad can they award her the money
Hi Alicia,
Generally speaking, whomever is listed on the policy will be given the death benefit (life insurance payout) regardless of relation and is not always contestable by others as it was a contract made early on. There have been cases in the past where people have tried to challenge a policy’s payout to a beneficiary, but in order for that to happen successfully there has to be some legal technicality regarding that contract. Overall, if the person is listed as the beneficiary then they will receive the proceeds.
As we are not licensed to advise on legal matters, we can’t comment on legal remedies to challenge this payout. We do recommend you reach out to a licensed attorney in your jurisdiction who is versed in insurance law to see if there is a way to challenge this payout.
Hope this helps.
-Luke