When is a life insurance forfeiture ineffective despite the insured’s failure to make a timely premium payment? The answer was provided in Harwick v. AXA Equitable Life Ins. Co., 2020 WL 7698367 (N.D. Ill. December 27, 2020), where the court cited an Illinois statute that embodies a public policy against undue forfeiture of life insurance coverage. […]
An interpleader is a civil action filed by a “stakeholder,” often a life insurance company, that is facing competing claims over benefits that are due. To avoid the risk of having to pay twice, the stakeholder can initiate an interpleader lawsuit against the competing claimants in order for the rightful claimant to establish their entitlement […]
A life insurance decision issued by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit may be summed up by quoting a single sentence from the opinion: “Misleading an [Employee Retirement Income Security Act]-plan participant has consequences.” Skelton v. Reliance Standard Life Insurance Co.[1] teaches how lax benefit enrollment practices can be costly. […]
An incontestability clause is a provision in a life or disability insurance policy that prevents the insurance company from canceling the policy based on misstatements in the policy application after the insurance has been in effect for a certain period of time, usually two years. Most states require the inclusion of such clauses in insurance policies […]
Life insurance typically ends when the employee is no longer active at work. However, employees can protect their life insurance if they become critically ill. If one of the fringe benefits of your employment is group life insurance, a critical concern of most employees who become ill is how to maintain life insurance coverage while they are ill and cannot work.
Life insurance seems like a no-brainer. If you buy life insurance and die, your beneficiary receives a payout, right? Not necessarily. There can be several reasons why life insurance is not paid. All policies contain an exclusion that would preclude payment or state grounds that can cause coverage to lapse […]