There are many different types of life insurance claims in Florida that our office can handle. These include:

Interpleader lawsuits-an interpleader lawsuit is where a life insurance company may want to pay out the benefits, but is not sure who they are supposed to pay. Rather than have a risk of paying out the benefits twice, they may give the money to the court, and sue all potential beneficiaries. The beneficiaries then have to fight for the benefits based on the law and the facts of the specific case. Many times, these interpleader lawsuits are filed in federal court in Florida, which has its own strict rules that the parties may have to comply with. If the rules are not complied with, the court could issue a default judgment and you may lose your case.

Denial based on material misrepresentation-when a person dies within two years of applying for life insurance, the life insurance company in Florida often investigates the policy application and policy to see whether the insured made any representations on the application that were false. This typically includes cases where somebody denies having a prior medical history but the medical records show that the person may have actually had these conditions. In some cases, you may still be entitled to life insurance benefits in Florida even if the person checked off no to a medical question when the answer should have been yes. In order for the life insurance company to deny the claim, they generally must prove that the mistaken answer would have resulted in a denial of coverage. They also may have to prove that the person who completed the application knew that the answers were false when they completed the application. There are different standards based on the policy application and policy language. In some cases, if the person completes the application and believes the answers are true and correct to the best of their own knowledge and belief, the life insurance company may have to prove that the person had actual knowledge of their medical condition. This is often not easy for the life insurance company to do.

Ex-spouse still listed as beneficiary- A recent change in Florida law states that if a person has their spouse listed as the beneficiary on the life insurance policy and they get divorced, the spouse maybe deemed to predecease their ex for purposes of life insurance. The life insurance company may then go to the contingent beneficiary to pay the life insurance benefits. There are many circumstances in Florida in which the life insurance company's decision to skip an ex and not pay them the life insurance benefits may be improper. It may be very special fact specific, so please feel free to give us a call to go over the circumstances to see if you still may have a claim even if you were divorced but are still listed as the life insurance beneficiary on your ex's life insurance policy.

Policy cancellation for nonpayment of premiums - when the life insurance company cancels the policy because they do not receive the payments, it does not necessarily mean that you still may not have a claim. There are many circumstances in which we were able to recover benefits under a life insurance policy where the life insurance company improperly canceled the policy. Sometimes a pre-payment may be made with the policy that the life insurance company failed to account for. Payments may have been sent into the life insurance company that they failed to apply to the policy. Under certain circumstances, the life insurance company may have to send a specific cancellation letter to the policy owner before they are allowed to legally cancel the policy. If they fail to do so, they may waive the right to cancel the policy and may have to pay the benefits to the beneficiaries.

Claim delays - sometimes a life insurance company delays payment on a policy unnecessarily. They may ask for many unnecessary documents just to delay payment of the claim, or look for additional reasons not to pay. Our office can help with the life insurance claim processing.

Payments due to an estate - when a policy owner dies and does not list a beneficiary, the life insurance company may have to pay the benefits to their estate in Florida. Our office has handled many cases where benefits were due to an estate. We have an in-house probate department that can help make sure that the beneficiaries under the person's estate get the life insurance proceeds they are entitled to.