Resolving Life Insurance Claims: Pending Issues That You Need To Break Through
When a family member has passed away unexpectedly, there may be an investigation into the death. It happens when the circumstances surrounding the death are unusual, or when the coroner discovers that something is amiss during the autopsy. Regardless of what the issue is, it can hold up any life insurance claims you have on that family member. You will need legal help from an attorney to break through those pending issues to receive the money from the insurance claim faster. The following issues, and how to get through them, will help.
Cause of Death: Unknown
The biggest and most frustrating barrier to getting an insurance claim through is when a coroner puts "unknown" on the death certificate line for "cause of death." Since there is no certain determination of the cause of death, many life insurance companies assume there is a pending investigation. They will refrain from paying on the claim until the coroner changes the cause of death to something more certain.
When there is no investigation, this becomes a major battle with the insurance company. With your lawyer's help, you can force the coroner to change this information and/or include a notarized letter of explanation for the insurance company as to why the coroner put that on the death certificate. Then your claim on the family member's policy should be processed normally.
Suicide or Homicide
Most insurance companies will not pay out on a suicide. They may pay out on a homicide, but not if the money is going to the murderer. When the police have not yet decided if your family member's death was a suicide or homicide, this can cause problems with your insurance claim as well.
If you were married to that family member, you have even bigger problems because you are Suspect #1 and due to receive the money from the life insurance. Waiting to be ruled out by the police, and waiting to hear that your family member did not commit suicide is always painstakingly slow. A lawyer can put some legal pressure on the police department to resolve these issues so that the insurance company can process the claim and make the payments.
Slow Processing
Slow processing is also a problem many people have, even when they can get the death certificate within a reasonable amount of time. Your lawyer can help push the claim through faster. Then you can pay those end-of-life expenses for your family member.
Contact a lawyer, like Scott E. Shaffman Attorney At Law, for more help.
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