Help collecting life Ins. policy
 

I'm looking for advice. My friend's spouse passed away last year in a foreign country. The spouse has a sizable life insurance policy with Lincoln Financial, Life Insurance division. My friend tried everything to get this company to pay the policy. They are giving her the run-around. They've told her they need more documents, and when she sends them to the company they come up with another excuse. Now, Lincoln Life is saying they need to "investigate." They won't tell her why or when they will conclude the investigation.
It appears they are stalling so they don't have to pay.
Does anyone have any advice of a government agency that could intervene? She doesn't want to hire a lawyer, because then she has to pay a lawyer to collect the money owed to her.

What she wants to do and what she should do....is to hire an attorney. Of course she’ll have to give the lawyer his fee. You did say ‘sizable’ policy....it appears by your own words that she’s in over her head. There is no governmental agency short of an Attorney General....and that’s only if you can prove some consumer fraud. Investigations are part of the process given the amount of insurance fraud in the system. Let a professional do what they do daily...and allow the process to proceed to a natural conclusion

Before an insurance company acts too quickly, they have to investigate in the case of foul play, especially if it’s ‘sizeable’. Let them go through the process.

Does the insurance company have the death certificate?

A seasoned estate attorney could handle this.

Insurance
 

Call the Insurance Commissioner for the Sate of Florida and they can help you proceed.

Lawyer up.

The State will absolutely not intervene. You missed the part where the OP stated that there is a ‘sizable’ payout....and they...as yet, refuse to hire an attorney. Why should they intervene? The insurance company is doing their due diligence....patience is not a virtue as stated...in this case

Attorney.

Or the Insurance Commissioner of the state in which the policy was purchased, if not Florida.

A previous poster said get an attorney, that is the best advice.
My wife son passed away a few years ago, he was an accountant and was invested in many things that I was unaware of.
One of the things he had invested in was insurance policies.
Something I did not know existed. Some of the policies he had were bought outright, some were on a spit percentage.
I did let most of them lapse since I did not really want to be in this business, but the ones that were on a percentage I had to keep alive because his estate would still be liable.
The few that I was forced to keep in play started to payoff and quite handsomely, I only have one left.
But because there were misunderstandings between many of the spouses where they believed the insurance had been sold outright and believed I was a scammer, even though these spouses were about to collect an inheritance they would not deal with me, and I had to go through an attorney to get the documentation since I was not a direct descendant.

I don’t disagree with hiring an attorney but if your friend resides in Florida I would suggest that she FIRST contact Seniors vs Crime which is a special project in the Florida Attorney General’s Office. They may give her some advice or even take on her issue and contact the insurance company on her behalf. No guarantee but wouldn’t hurt

the amount of the attorney's fees and the sizable inheritance is a no brainer. Get an attorney!! Right now she has ZERO and a heck of a lot of runaround. A year is more than enough time to investigate. Suck it up and get an attorney

So sorry for your friend's spouses passing. So a death claim with an insurance company will be investigated in the first two years of the policy. Few things they will look out of course is foul play. They also match up cause of death with answers on the application and see if any answers were "untrue" or misleading to the Underwriter reviewing the application. The fact that the individual died overseas also adds an element of "investigation." As long as everything adds up, the insurance company will play the claim. Claims can take up to 6 months. Not sure where your friend is in the process. A few back and forth is no cause for alarm. Now, a denial is obviously a big thing. At that point, you MUST hire an attorney. Until then, have your friend just comply with the requests and give them a call every couple of days for an update. If you need any help, send me a PM. Good Luck! Have a blessed day

Also, her state's elected officials. They were elected to help their constituents.

Most important, and i did not see this mentioned, was the spouse the listed beneficiary? Spouses are not automatically the listed beneficiary. I’ve seen ex girlfriends paid out rather than wife and kids because the beneficiary had never been updated. Very sad.

complaint
 

I would file a complaint with the insurance department where this company is located. If that does not work, then get an attorney. The complaint is free and the company will most likely have to provide answer, but an investigation could be required depending on the issues.

I work for one of Lincoln’s competitors- her State Department of Insurance is the best recourse. They will work with Lincoln on her behalf to resolve. There are procedures Lincoln will need to follow to respond to the DOI in a timely manner until resolution.

That is incorrect. Start with the States Department of Insurance. The life insurance industry is heavily regulated by the states. That is the best recourse. No lawyer is needed at this stage.

Contact the state department of insurance and the attorney general.
 

Contact the state department of insurance and the attorney general.

Obviously the insurance co finds something suspicious about the death or they would have paid already. Nothing you can do except wait u til their investigation is over and if your friend isn’t accused of anything, they will collect.

Among the reasons that an insurance company "investigates" is that the insured may have died under mysterious circumstances such as suicide in the first 2 years of the policy or the insured may have been a homicide victim and the beneficiary needs to be cleared by the police, etc.

If none of these apply, have your friend contact the State Insurance Commission for help.

That’s why we have Probate courts in this country

First thing is to be sure your friend is the stated beneficiary to this policy. If she is and she proceeds (with the assistance of an attorney) then she might be interested to know that when the life insurance company does pay off, they have to pay interest on the policy amount from the date of death to the date of pay out.

Is counseled in the country he or she passed away in was the body transported to the US. Certificate of death with cause of death

Couple of nice articles explaining why there can be delays in payouts

Why Your Life Insurance Claim Takes So Long. This one is all the reasons

Does Life Insurance Pay For Overseas Deaths? This one specific to overseas issues

Well, that might be the number 2 reason we have probate courts. The number 1 reason, of course, is to make attorneys rich when people don't solid wills or trusts in place.

Lincoln is a reputable company. Events in a foreign company, whether an accident or death, complicate any claim. Without knowing what Lincoln has asked for, it is difficult to analyze the problem.

If the claim in, ultimately, paid, the widow should demand interest be paid from the date the claim was first submitted.

If the dispute persists, the easiest path is to file a complaint with the insurance commissioner in the state where the policy was sold. All insurance is governed by state law. Insurance commissioners are oriented towards the policyholder and will get to the bottom of the matter.

After that, if the claim is paid, the widow can consult an attorney and then consider a lawsuit

Lawyers make laws, you have hire lawyer to fight for your rights. After years of getting paid lawyers will finely milk all money the can and come to agreement. If you don’t agree it starts all over. Eventually the fees will be higher than the payout:mad:

No different than any other insurance company. Denied, denied, till smarter lawyer trumps them.

But don’t delay in payments.

I have actually watched, first-hand and more than once, divorce attorneys make a "People Vs. Green" motion to the judge. Essentially, it is a closed door hearing to tell the judge they want off the case because they have exhausted their clients ability to pay and any further work will be uncompensated. These are generally granted, in my observation.

Veterans
 

Was the deceased person a veteran ? If so most states offer veterans free legal aid . The spouse should have access to this . Contact the veterans service officer VSO in your state. They will help.

Hi everyone - Thank you for your advice. My friend was not with her spouse when he passed (she was in the US). He had an accident and died in a hospital. He dies last year. She is the beneficiary. She has the "notarized" death certificate which she gave to the insurance company, she also has official documentation from the embassy that she gave to the insurance company. She has supplied everything the insurance company has asked for.
She is going to try the State Insurance Commissioner and see if she can get anywhere.

Do u know what country he died in?

Actually, I don't blame the insurance company from doing a thorough investigation of the death. There is no way that I would blindly accept a notarized death certificate and "official documentation" from the embassy for someone who died in another country. Embassies don't even track Americans who travel to other countries. It is just not sufficient proof that the terms of the policy have been met. If there is a lot of money involved, I would want my own insurance investigator to do an investigation and approve the payment.

Good lawyers are a lot like good real estate brokers or good stock brokers.

They invariably make you way more money than you would have made without them.

Of course in TV, everyone is an expert and no one needs lawyers, real estate brokers or stock advisors. They can learn all they need to know, on Facebook or TOTV.

i would get my wife s uncle vinnny, he collects for 'other ' people:boxing2::boxing2:

Please name another privately provided service you can continue to get, when you've run out of money to pay for it?

First thought is how did she get the body back and where is he now buried or was he cremated and ashes returned. You might try contacting seniors vs crime here in TV for more advise