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We Know How To Win Life Insurance Cases

We Know How To Win Life Insurance Cases

Don’t think that your lawsuit will be like a television show! We Know How to Win Life Insurance Cases.

The practice of law in real life is not like television or the movies.  Cases don’t go to trial in a week.  Judges and juries don’t decide cases on “reputation” evidence.  The case isn’t on the tv news every night.  Instead, the reality is that the legal “process” is complicated and can take time.

By process, we mean that many different things must be done correctly to keep the pressure on the opposition – the life insurance company – to be sure that all of the strongest evidence is put together to support your case.  The right result does not just “happen” because the law requires it; the rules of the Court have to be followed to the letter, by each side.

The right result is the culmination of lots of hard work, persuasion, and the fulfillment of each legal requirement.

Do you know how to do this on your own? As your life insurance lawyer, we will do all that for you.

Delaying getting knowledgeable lawyers like us will cause harm to your case.  The life insurance company has many lawyers working for them – with the goal of not paying you a dime.

When the life insurance company asks you for things, it is because their lawyer has guided them – to find information to use against your claim.

If you are operating without a lawyer, just doing what you think a lawyer would do on tv, or bringing up all the bad things about another person without understanding the life insurance laws and what the Court needs to hear from you, you are going to lose.

The Court’s verdict is not determined on good or bad reputations or character, but on specific, detailed and provable facts.

As your lawyers, we will bring the right facts to the life insurance company and/or the Court, so you will be paid your benefits. We know how important these benefits are to you and your family.

The life insurance company has been working to avoid payment ever since they found out about your claim.

We have done this a lot.  We take the time to know you and your case.  We start working for you NOW.  We communicate with you, respond to your calls, are available to you.  We focus on how to win your case.  If you have a problem getting your life insurance claim paid, rescission, beneficiary disputes, or your policy has been cancelled or has other issues on it, you need to contact Life Insurance Lawyer NOW.com.

Use the form on our site, or email us, or call (888) 997-4070 or (818) 937-0937 to speak directly to an experienced life insurance lawyer.   We are the best life insurance lawyers around, and we are real lawyers, not a lawyer referral service or “middleman”.

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Life Insurance – What Are Incontestability, Contestability, And Rescission?

Life Insurance – What Are Incontestability, Contestability, And Rescission?

Life Insurance – What are Incontestability, Contestability, and Rescission? And how can they affect your claim?

You probably did not know that a life insurance policy that is properly paid for can still be taken away by the life insurance company, and the claim not paid, under laws involving  Incontestability, contestability, and rescission, in the State of California.  What do these terms mean, in California, involving life insurance policies and claims?  Really, these terms and concepts are central to whether the life insurance company will pay on your claim, or not.  We can help, NOW.

The most common thing that life insurance companies are doing to avoid payment on life insurance policies where the premium has been paid has to do with contestability and rescission.  

Rescission and rescind is the legal term for undoing a legal contract sometime after it has been signed and paid for.  The life insurance companies use rescission to undo the life insurance policy – a special legal contract – even after the death of your loved one.  If the claim comes within the first two years of the policy, and is contestable, then the life insurance company will investigate will great energy, looking for something to claim as a misrepresentation on the application.  To a life insurance company, if someone dies from a disease within two years of buying the policy, there must have been a misrepresentation, something that was not disclosed, because life insurance companies try very hard to not issue life insurance policies to people who might actually use them.

The way the life insurance company looks for “grounds” in its rescission investigation, is to usually get all of the applicant’s medical records, for ten years or more before the application.

The life insurance company is looking very hard through every page of what can be hundreds of pages medical records, searching for something, anything, that the life insurance company can say was misrepresented.  We have seen this be as minor as diagnostic test, an x-ray or MRI, that did not reveal anything, to be used by the life insurance company as “grounds” to not pay on the policy, and to rescind the policy.

Under the broad view of the law that the life insurance company likes to argue, it doesn’t even matter if the question of fact was about something that did not contribute to the loss of your loved one.  The insurance company is just investigating to try a big “gotcha” memory test, where they ask a person on the application (with the friendly agent saying, oh, it’s okay) to answer a page of odd, broad questions, going back five, or even ten years, about every kind of medical situation – just to test your memory.  Then, the life insurance company does the medical test “open book” by using an authorization to obtain copies of every medical provider and hospital you have been to in the last ten years.

They use people to review those records, looking for anything that doesn’t get your loved one a “100%” score on the application questions.  If there is anything less than a 100% match between the ten years of records “open book” test that the company uses, and the page of the application done as a memory test for your loved one, the applicant, the life insurance company will rescind the policy, making it disappear, and refusing to pay anything on the life insurance policy.

More than two years after a life insurance policy is issued, it is considered by California law to be incontestable, so the kind of vigorous medical investigation is usually not done by the life insurance company, since it is too late to rescind for misrepresentation.

In California, the important law is in the California Insurance Code, § 10113.5 on contestability, giving the life insurance companies, as they figure it, two years from the issuance of the life insurance policy based on the life insurance application, to assert anything at all that doesn’t match up 100%.

This is California Insurance Code, § 10113.5 on contemptibility:

a) An individual life insurance policy delivered or issued for delivery in this state shall contain a provision that it is incontestable after it has been in force, during the lifetime of the insured, for a period of not more than two years after its date of issue, except for nonpayment of premiums and except for any …California Insurance Code – Insurance § 10113.5

10113.5. (a) An individual life insurance policy delivered or issued for delivery in this state shall contain a provision that it is incontestable after it has been in force, during the lifetime of the insured, for a period of not more than two years after its date of issue, except for nonpayment of premiums and except for any of the supplemental benefits described in Section 10271, to the extent that the contestability of those benefits is otherwise set forth in the policy or contract supplemental thereto. An individual life insurance policy, upon reinstatement, may be contested on account of fraud or misrepresentation of facts material to the reinstatement only for the same period following reinstatement, and with the same conditions and exceptions, as the policy provides with respect to contestability after original issuance.

These are the issues that we regularly fight the life insurance companies on, for decades in Federal Court, United States District Court, to get your life insurance paid NOW.

Contact us at lifeinsurancelawyerNOW.com and lifeinsurancejustice.com to get your claim paid, NOW.

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California Life Insurance Claims Denial Verdicts & Settlements

California Life Insurance Claims Denial Verdicts & Settlements

California Life Insurance Claim Denial Settlements – It should come as no surprise, but the insurance companies we go after almost always want a “confidential” settlement if there is a settlement. 

The insurance companies want to hide their actions, and the facts that we held them accountable for their earlier refusals to pay and denials of benefits.  Because these confidential agreements are part of a settlement that is good for our clients, we will do it, for the client’s best outcome.  Until the state of the law changes, we must comply with that confidentiality. All these California Life Insurance Claim Denial Verdicts and Confidential Settlements are multi-million dollar claims.

California Life Insurance Claim/Denial on Allegedly Cancelled or Non-Paid Policy: Policy Benefits paid.

Our client came to us after two other lawyers said there was no way to get the life insurance company to pay, and that the only person to sue was the one who was supposed to pay the premium.  Because that person sent the premium in late, and did not keep good records, the insurance company sought to rescind the life insurance policy of the elderly mother of our client.

After litigation in Federal Court, and discovery, including the cross-examination of the person most knowledgeable at the insurance company, the life insurance company decided to pay the benefits owed, plus additional damages.

California Life Insurance Claim/ Denial on Policy Application Statements: Policy Benefits Paid

Our client’s mother had passed away, and the client expected the life insurance company to pay the benefits due on the policy.  But the life insurance company refused to pay, seeking to claim that the life insurance policy application had been filled out in a way that was untruthful or at least incomplete.

We strongly disputed the allegations of the life insurance company.  The policy application was made too long ago, and was incontestable under long standing California law.  The application itself was unclear and confusing, and there was no reasonable way to know that the information now sought by the insurance company was actually sought in the earlier application.  The actions of the life insurance company were nothing more than post-claims underwriting, prohibited in California.  The life insurance company was forced to honor their policy.

California Life Insurance Claim/Denial on Policy Coverage: Policy Benefits Paid

Our client’s husband was depressed and undergoing care for that illness.  Sadly, when the husband died soon after, under ambiguous circumstances, the insurance company sought to avoid paying the policy benefits by terming the situation a suicide.  Using experts and investigation, we recreated the unfortunate situation, to make it clear that there was no suicide.  Benefits were owed, and the life insurance did proceed to pay them to the grieving family.

Disclaimer: These previous cases are examples only, and are not guarantees, or typical.  What happens on your case is based on the facts of your claim and precise situation, but we will do our best to arrive at the best life insurance claim denial verdict or settlement as possible.

Have you suffered the unexpected loss of a loved one, only to have a claim for life insurance benefits delayed, or denied? Do you get the feeling that the life insurance company is doing everything it can to avoid paying the claim?  Has the life insurance company sent you a letter stating that they are rescinding the policy, making a rescission, or just sending back the premiums paid? Especially if your loved one had the policy for less than two years before passing away, the life insurance company can become very aggressive at seeking to avoid the policy payment.  Rescission is a favored strategy of the life insurance company, if the policy was issued less than two years before the death.

We can help.  Call LifeInsuranceLawyerNOW.com at (888) 997-4070, or (818) 937-0937, or send an email to us in the form on the side of the screen. We are highly experienced lawyers, not paralegals, and we know this area.  We get right to it with you and the insurance company, and get many claims paid right away.  If court is necessary, we are regular Federal litigators and will push the life insurance company hard for the well-being of you and your family.  We respect you, deal directly with you, and understand not only the law and facts, but what you are going through.  We are here to help.  Contact us as soon as possible, to get your claim paid faster.

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Frequently Asked Questions About Life Insurance Law

Frequently Asked Questions About Life Insurance Law –

Life Insurance Bad Faith: What does this mean?
Life insurance bad faith means that a life insurance company is unreasonably delaying or denying life insurance benefits. Sure, a company can investigate a claim. But a life insurance company cannot unreasonably investigate a claim, with an eye towards finding any half-reason to deny the claim. When companies go beyond what is permitted by the California law, regulation, and Courts, they act in insurance bad faith. The compensation for insurance bad faith can include bad faith damages, attorneys fees, emotional distress, and punitive damages. This is a very complex area of law, and to win insurance bad faith damages, you really will need a life insurance lawyer now.

Duty to Provide Coverage: What does this mean?
A life insurance company has a duty to provide coverage; that is, to try to find coverage, so it can pay the benefits under the policy. An insurance contract is a special kind of contract, not the usual commercial contract, but is for something even more: peach of mind. A life insurance policy even more (since it involves death or serious injury) is very much about peace of mind. Because of this, the law requires a life insurance company to look to provide coverage. A duty to provide coverage is an important part of a California life insurance policy, and the lawyers at life insurance lawyer now can provide the arguments to get your life insurance benefits paid.

Incontestability: What does this mean?
In California, because there is such a strong consumer interest in peace of mind in a life insurance policy, there is a limited time that a life insurance company has for certain defenses to the policy. After that time limit has passed, the life insurance is incontestable. Even though there is strong California law on this important consumer right, many life insurance companies, particularly from outside of California, seek ways to use the law’s complexity to avoid the policy incontestability. The lawyers at life insurance lawyer now are adept at arguing the complex laws of incontestability in favor of policy benefits being paid.

Fraud: What does this mean?
When an insurance company uses the term “fraud” they mean that the insured, or someone else, intentionally misled them, usually with a policy application misstatement. The life insurance company will argue that without the misstatement, they would not have issued the policy, and that the “fraud” of the misstatement means that they should not have to pay now. When we use the term “fraud” we mean that the life insurance company had an intention to not pay on the policy, which was improper and prohibited by California law.

Application Misstatements: What does this mean?
Life insurance has an application. The life insurance company wants to be certain there is some potential for a person to out last the policy, and to be sure the person does not expect to die soon. Life insurance companies also have other questions that they seek to answer with policy applications. Even though life insurance companies have a limited length of time to investigate an application, sometimes they would prefer to do no investigation before issuing a policy, but then try to do more investigation if and after there is a claim for the benefits. Under most circumstances, this is not permitted under California law and regulation – yet we see it often.

Why Does a Life Insurance Company Delay the Claim?
Besides the additional earnings the life insurance company makes on the money it keeps longer, delay means there is an investigation into searching for a way to deny the claim. Delay,  is always about the insurance company searching for one of its excuses to not pay the benefits. Because of the complexity of life insurance law, it is very important to get an experienced life insurance lawyer now on your claim.

What should I do if I the life insurance company is delaying the payment?
It is really better to hire us before the delay becomes denial. (Of course, we get benefits paid on many denied claims, too, but delay is a different stage.) You should retain a life insurance lawyer now before the delay turns into denial. Why? When we are involved in pre-denial stage, we may be able to show the insurance company why the claim should be paid. We can help avoid denial, and avoid further delay. Life insurance lawyer now can immediately begin to act on your behalf; the insurance company will know that you will not take no for an answer.

Many times, when we come in pre-denial, we can reduce the delay and get the payments paid. They could be paid within 30 days, or sooner. After a denial, we can still do it for you, but it simply takes longer to convince the insurance company to undo the decision they have already made, and make the opposite decision. After the denial, there are two additional steps, and those take time. We have a lot of writing and arguing to do, to motivate the insurance company to take those two additional steps.

Why do insurance companies delay life insurance claims?
Insurance companies don’t like to pay; they prefer when you pay premiums. Delay means they are looking for some reason to not pay the claim. They may ask for paperwork over and over. The biggest delay is a new search through the insured’s medical records. Typically, the life insurance company is searching through the records for something to use to say the application was false, and to deny the policy. There is no such thing as a routine investigation. It is all for one life insurance company purpose: to not pay the money to you.

Why do insurance companies delay life insurance claims?
There are several reasons that the life insurance company delays the claim, by creating an investigation. The company may demand so much paperwork, from a grieving family, that it just becomes too much for the family to keep up with – that’s their goal.

Especially if the family does not have a life insurance company lawyer now helping them, people just get worn down. It is a very difficult time for people, dealing with a loss of a loved one, and searching for papers over and over is tough. But if the life insurance decides you are not cooperating, they may close the investigation, without paying the life insurance policy.

How long does it take for a life insurance claim to get paid?
You should call life insurance lawyer now if your claims are not already paid, within 20 days of when you submitted the death certificate, or if you have been notified that there is some investigation started by the company. Most claims are paid routinely – congratulations – but on larger policies, above $100,000 and beyond the life insurance company has many reasons to not pay, and may delay the claim. That delay is your signal that the life insurance company is going to give you a hard time, and you need a life insurance lawyer now. Remember, the life insurance company has lawyers on its side; don’t be without the guidance and help of an expert life insurance lawyer now.

Often, once we get involved, we can get the life insurance company to pay regularly. It is really important to have an experienced lawyer’s help, without delay.

What will it cost to have your firm handle my delayed life insurance claim?
We work on a contingency fee basis, and we don’t get paid unless you get your money. Our fees are the same or better than any other firm, and with us, you get much more service and value. Other firms usually require you to pay costs of litigation before they will proceed, but we believe in your case enough to wait for success on the case. We also offer grievance and loss counselors.

What are my options if my life insurance claim was denied?
You should retain a life insurance lawyer now from our law firm. We are highly experienced lawyers on insurance bad faith and coverage disputes. We have previous experience providing advice on the most serious of cases – including punitive damages and $100,000,000 claims–to the highest levels of insurance companies. We understand how these companies think, work and act, from the lowest level basic life insurance claim adjustors, to the company presidents.

We litigate high-stakes financial litigation, where everything important is on the line. You don’t want a lawyer unfamiliar with life insurance law and regulation – but you also will benefit from a lawyer who is aware of legal developments in several other complex areas of the law. We have the proper balance in our firm of litigating life insurance claims and cases, and other high stakes insurance litigation, which gives us the best views on the best strategy for your particular situation. Because we involve a team approach on every claim, and test juries on every case, we believe that our results are better than you can get anywhere else.

What is the cost of lawyer from a LifeInsuranceLawyerNow.com?
Our fees are contingency, meaning you only pay us if we recover for you, unless you want a different fee structure. Our fees are extremely reasonable, and we can discuss phased or other fees that will always be better than any other firm’s fee. Remember, you pay us nothing unless we get money for you.

What are some common reasons for a life insurance claim being denied?
Delay itself as a defense to the policy. The life insurance company may just try to win by delay, to ask that you send them documents, and then just deny the claim because you did not send something. Every policy not paid because of delay is a win for the insurance company business bottom-line, even if it is illegal. They seek to bury you with paperwork, because that can work against a non-lawyer. It won’t work against us.

Have you suffered the unexpected loss of a loved one, only to have a claim for life insurance benefits delayed, or denied? 

Do you get the feeling that the life insurance company is doing everything it can to avoid paying the claim?  Has the life insurance company sent you a letter stating that they are rescinding the policy, making a rescission, or just sending back the premiums paid? Especially if your loved one had the policy for less than two years before passing away, the life insurance company can become very aggressive at seeking to avoid the policy payment.  Rescission is a favored strategy of the life insurance company, if the policy was issued less than two years before the death.

We can help.  Call LifeInsuranceLawyerNOW.com at (888) 997-4070, or (818) 937-0937, or send an email to us in the form on the side of the screen.  We are highly experienced lawyers, not paralegals, and we know this area.  We get right to it with you and the insurance company, and get many claims paid right away.  If court is necessary, we are regular Federal litigators and will push the life insurance company hard for the well being of you and your family.  We respect you, deal directly with you, and understand not only the law and facts, but what you are going through.  We are here to help.  Contact us as soon as possible, to get your claim paid faster.

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State Farm Life Insurance Company

State Farm Life Insurance Company uses the name State Farm life.  State Farm Life says it is the country’s #1 insurer of individual life insurance policies, has been the #1 insurer since 1942 and that is a “remarkable track record of the confidence customers have placed in State Farm since 1922.”  State Farm life sells through agents, who receive commission compensation and other compensation for selling the State Farm Life insurance policies.  State Farm is based in Bloomington, Illinois and prefers Federal Court throughout the country for the many lawsuits that have been filed against State Farm.

State Farm life insurance sells a full variety of life insurance policies, including term life, whole life, universal life, and variable universal life insurance policies.  Each of these particular types of policies has a world of complexity and fine print.  State Farm life insurance certainly recognizes that the purpose of life insurance is to provide peace of mind.

Start Farm describes term life insurance as “affordable protection.”  State Farm life further talks about life insurance as: “Term life insurance is the most straightforward form of protection. You generally pay premiums on a monthly or annual basis and your family is protected for that “term.”….”Help provide for a family’s loss of income; Cover short-term debts and needs;

Provide additional insurance protection during the child-raising years

Provide longer term protection to help your family pay off a mortgage or to help pay for a college education.”  State Farm Life sells what it describes as “Select Term Life Insurance” where the customer can “Select 10, 20, or 30 years of coverage and a guaranteed benefit. Coverage starts at $100,000, and the affordable premiums are level for the initial policy term. Once past the level premium period, premiums will increase annually. The policy is guaranteed to renew up to age 95 and is convertible to a permanent policy regardless of health, subject to age limits.”

State Farm describes “Whole Life Insurance” policies as”Select 10, 20, or 30 years of coverage and a guaranteed benefit. Coverage starts at $100,000, and the affordable premiums are level for the initial policy term. Once past the level premium period, premiums will increase annually. The policy is guaranteed to renew up to age 95 and is convertible to a permanent policy regardless of health, subject to age limits.”

State Farm describes its “Universal Life Insurance” as a life insurance policy where “premiums are paid into your policy’s account value (after a premium expense charge), where it earns interest. Every month, various deductions, such as a charge for insurance protection, are then made from the account value. You have the ability to take loans or make withdrawals from the account value for your personal needs. Loans accrue interest and unpaid loans plus interest and withdrawals will reduce the death benefit and cash value. The policy continues as long as the cash value is sufficient to cover the various deductions each month…”

State Farm used to sell a large number of policies of Variable Universal Life.  But in September, 2008, State Farm stopped selling variable universal life.  Because State Farm sold so much of the variable universal life insurance policies, and there has been so much discontent with these types of unpredictable policies, many of the policies are still in force, and insured customers may have questions.

Have you suffered the unexpected loss of a loved one, only to have a claim for life insurance benefits delayed, or denied?  Do you get the feeling that the life insurance company is doing everything it can to avoid paying the claim?  Has the life insurance company sent you a letter stating that they are rescinding the policy, making a rescission, or just sending back the premiums paid? Especially if your loved one had the policy for less than two years before passing away, the life insurance company can become very aggressive at seeking to avoid the policy payment.  Rescission is a favored strategy of the life insurance company, if the policy was issued less than two years before the death.

We can help.  Call LifeInsuranceLawyerNOW.com at (888) 997-4070, or (818) 937-0937, or send an email to us in the form on the side of the screen.  We are highly experienced lawyers, not paralegals, and we know this area.  We get right to it with you and the insurance company, and get many claims paid right away.  If court is necessary, we are regular Federal litigators and will push the life insurance company hard for the well being of you and your family.  We respect you, deal directly with you, and understand not only the law and facts, but what you are going through.  We are here to help.  Contact us as soon as possible, to get your claim paid faster.