Tennessee Attorneys Representing Life Insurance Claimants

Insurance dispute attorneys helping policyholders throughout the Southeast and Midwest

Life insurance provides financial stability in a time of severe need. Family members rely on insurance proceeds to keep the bills paid and to start life again. The mortgage payment does not pause while the carrier reviews your claim, and a denial often arrives weeks after the funeral.

The Tennessee-based life insurance attorneys at McWherter Scott & Bobbitt represent beneficiaries across the Southeast and Midwest whose claims have been denied, delayed, or paid short. We read the policy and the application together, obtain the carrier’s claim and underwriting files, and contest denials that rest on an alleged misrepresentation, a suicide exclusion, or a claimed lapse in premium. Where the carrier will not move, we file suit.

Life insurance issues

People buy life insurance policies for good reasons – to provide stability after we’re gone, to pay for our funeral, to pay off the mortgage, to provide for those we love. By their nature, life insurance benefits are often large, and payment is usually due in a lump sum on the death of the insured. We’ve handled many life insurance claims in which the carrier wrongfully denied payment, and we see the same reasons given over and over again, such as:

• The premiums were not paid. Obviously, premiums generally have to be kept current, but we’ve even seen insurance companies claim premiums were not paid when they really were. Ask the carrier for the premium ledger and the lapse notice it says it sent.
• There was a misstatement or omission in the application. Insurance companies often try this tactic if the person died from a medical condition that the company thinks should have been disclosed on the application for insurance. For example, an insurance company may argue a smoker who died of lung cancer never informed the insurance company that the insured person smoked. In Tennessee, a life insurance policy generally becomes incontestable after it has been in force during the insured’s lifetime for two years. After that, the carrier generally cannot contest the policy based on an application misrepresentation (although nonpayment and other coverage defenses may still apply).
• The company may claim the death was a suicide. Many insurance policies exclude coverage if someone took their own life. But things aren’t always what they appear, and we’ve been involved in (and settled) several claims in which suicide was alleged but the requisite proof did not exist. Read the exclusion’s own terms – most apply only for a stated period after the policy issues.

Our Tennessee life insurance attorneys are knowledgeable regarding the ins and outs of policies. Perhaps the agent knew the insured had cancer but told the insured to mark “no” on the application, or perhaps the agent was paid the annual premium but failed to send it to the insurance company. Every case is different, and we analyze the facts and law to determine all available options for our clients.