[Northwoods]

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.

[Shipping up to Boston]

Originally Posted by Northwoods

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

[shaw8700@outlook.com]

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.

[Stu from NYC]

Does the insurance company have the death certificate?

[manaboutown]

A seasoned estate attorney could handle this.

[dhsmith]

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

[MrFlorida]

Lawyer up.

[Shipping up to Boston]

Originally Posted by dhsmith

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

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

[Papa_lecki]

Attorney.

[elevatorman]

Originally Posted by dhsmith

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

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

[Cuervo]

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.

[Sandy and Ed]

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

[bowlingal]

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

[Ducatigator]

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

[SoCalGal]

Originally Posted by dhsmith

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

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