California’s Special Insurance Laws and Regulations
Life insurance companies are generally large corporations that sell life insurance policies in all fifty states – but these life insurance companies do not always make the effort to learn all of the requirements that each state may have regulating life insurance. Many times, these life insurance companies are owned by large, international corporations.
California, being the biggest state, also has many times more laws and regulations which control how a life insurance company can act.
Too many times, we have seen a life insurance company not really know that California has thousands of pages of the Insurance Code – laws affecting life insurance – and the Code of Regulations, and hundreds of different insurance cases from the California Courts. The life insurance companies think that handling life insurance claims is more or less the same in these various states, even though they are wrong: California is very specialized and complex – and we know how to use California’s Special Insurance Laws and Regulations to your advantage.
There are many special California laws and regulations about insurance, which are largely ignored by the many lawyers and executives of life insurance companies. You really need a lawyer who knows California bad faith insurance laws, and regulations, and all about life insurance.
Life insurance companies gloss over the California Department of Insurance regulations, such as the published “Fair Claims Settlement Practice Regulations” under Title 10 of the California Code of Regulations. Although Title 10 cover many regulations, the regulations provide a concise time limit for claims handling, and every adjustor needs to be trained in it, we have found that there is deficient training in these regulations for many out-of-state insurance companies that do business with California insured.
California Code of Regulations Section 2695.5 sets out limits insurers must comply with when adjusting claims:
- When an agent or other insurance representative receives a claim, that claim must be immediately tendered to the insurer; Within 15 days of Notice of a claim, the insurer must acknowledge receipt AND provide the insured with all necessary forms and instructions AND begin the investigation of the claim;
- An Insurer must respond within 15 days of any inquiry from the insured and within 21 days of any inquiry from the California Department of Insurance; Within 40 days of receipt of the notice of a claim, unless the insurance company otherwise advises the insured in writing with reasons for delay and updates the reasons for delay every 30 days, an insurer must accept or deny claims in whole or in part and affirm or deny liability;
- Claims should be paid within 30 days after coverage is determined or a settlement agreement is reached (subject to a few exceptions).
These specific time frames are minimum standards for good faith adjustment practices. We KNOW these laws. You need a lawyer like us in your corner.
Here’s a very informative article on the legal rights of those insured.
By the way, we have never seen the California Department of Insurance actually help a customer get insurance coverage paid; the only benefit the California Department of Insurance can do is a sales audit or survey of an insurance company’s claim handling, and this is never directed to helping one insured or one family – like you. To fight back against a California insurance company or life insurance company, you really need a qualified lawyer, particularly from lifeinsurancelawyerNOW.com We are here to help.
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.
