Category Archives: Life Insurance
Accidental Death & Dismemberment: A Substitute for Life Insurance?
You might be covered under an Accidental Death & Dismemberment (AD&D) policy as a fringe benefit through your employer or as a benefit of joining a professional association. Now that you are covered by an insurance policy in case of accidental death, you might be wondering if you really need to have a separate life insurance policy as well. After all, life insurance isn’t cheap, especially if you buy a whole life policy to take advantage of the investment it offers over term life. It’s crucial to understand what an AD&D policy covers and what it doesn’t.
Billing Problems: Who’s to Blame? Your Healthcare Provider or Your Insurer?
It would be nice if insurance paperwork were simple, if doctor bills were simple and easy to understand, and if questions or concerns could be cleared up with a phone call. It would also be nice if everyone had a robot maid to do the dishes, but we shouldn’t expect any of those things… Read More »
What Is the Statute of Limitations for Filing a Claim Against an Insurance Company?
A statute of limitations is a law that provides a window for filing a civil lawsuit or criminal charges. Once that window has closed, courts will dismiss any lawsuits or prosecutions which are filed late. Different types of cases have different statutes of limitations set out in state or federal law, and determining the… Read More »
What is Annuity Fraud?
Annuity fraud occurs when an unscrupulous insurance agent convinces you to buy an annuity product that you don’t need or is unsuitable for you. Annuities are profitable products for insurance companies to sell, but they are not always the best investment for all individuals and families. Senior citizens are the most vulnerable targets of… Read More »
What Are Annuities, and What Are the Different Types You Can Buy?
Annuities are insurance contracts that offer regular payments in exchange for purchasing the annuity. Annuities can be fixed, variable, or indexed, and they can be immediate or deferred. Annuities are not always suitable investments for a particular investor, and deferred annuities, in particular, have been the subject of numerous class actions based on claims… Read More »
What are non-contestability clauses, and how do they work?
We have written in the past about post-claims underwriting as a bad faith insurance practice when the insurer goes back over a life insurance application years later and rescinds a policy they have already issued to avoid paying an otherwise valid claim (see Post-Claim Underwriting: Can Insurance Companies Cancel Your Policy After You’ve Already… Read More »
Let’s NOT Get Physical: Everything you need to know about no-exam life insurance
Last time we talked about the importance of your life insurance application and the role it can later play in rescission or cancellation of your policy when a claim is presented for payment (Post-Claim Underwriting: Can Insurance Companies Cancel Your Policy After You’ve Already Made a Claim?). We talked about how the application process… Read More »
Post-Claim Underwriting: Can the Insurance Company Cancel Your Policy After You’ve Already Made a Claim?
Last month we asked the questions, Why do Life Insurance Claims get Denied? And what can you do about it? One of the actions we discussed was rescission of your policy and how that rescission may be done in bad faith. This area merits further discussion, so let’s dig deeper into how a life insurance policy gets canceled after a claim is filed
Why do Life Insurance Claims get Denied? And what can you do about it?
Life insurance is the preferred method chosen by many people to cover funeral and burial costs and make up for the loss of income, ensuring that important obligations like a home mortgage or car payments can continue to be met even after the loss of a wage earner. Life insurance also makes a sensible investment for many people and serves as a valuable addition to many families’ financial portfolios.
Mental Health and Life Insurance Denials
A recent Yahoo! Lifestyle article (Woman’s Post About Life Insurance Denial for Mental Health History Goes Viral) described the ordeal of an applicant’s denial of $10,000 in life insurance due to the fact that she disclosed a medical history including depression and anxiety on the application. Unfortunately, this woman’s story is far from unique. The health insurance industry has long imposed a double standard regarding mental health and mental illness versus physical health and illness,
