by veranew1 » Sat Apr 18, 2009 11:23 pm
Hi, I just found my fathers life insurance policies of which I am the beneficiary. I contacted American General and they are giving me a hard time. I had to asked them to do research on the policies. They first told me that the policy had lapse and I told them that my father paid his bills and I knew that wasn't right. Then they had to produce my fathers cancelled check. I not only found the cancelled check but I also found his premium payment book that the agent signed each month that he collected payment from my father. I have faxed all that to them. My question is will they have to pay interest on the death benefit since it has been 31 years? If so, what is the standard going rate for interest? I have been trying for 6 weeks to claim this death benefit. One policy is for a $1000 and one if $500.00. What should I expect to receive if they pay interest? There was also 2 more policy numbers that I found but I don't know who the beneficiary is on them. Thanks for your help.
Posted: Sat Apr 18, 2009 11:49 pm Post Subject:
Hello Veranew1,
Yes, you will get interest on the death benefit. How much, I am not sure. However, it does sound like you have proven that your fathers policy was active when he did pass away. IF there is a problem with that, you must insist the insurance company give you the cancell notices that they sent (mailed) to your fathers address. If he was still alive when they cancelled his policy, then unfortunately you will have no luck claiming any benefits. With the other two policies, you should contact the insurance companies they are with and go through their claims proceedures. Each insurance company is different. Ask them if the policies have been claimed. If not then ask them if you can fill out claim paperwork. They will tell you if you are the beneficiary or not. They may not specifically tell you who the beneficiary is if it is not you, however, they will start looking for the named beneficiary once they know that your father has passed away.
I hope that this helps and good luck.
Michael
Posted: Sun Apr 19, 2009 05:38 am Post Subject:
hi Veranew1
i appreciate your efforts that even after 31 yrs still you are following up with the insurance company.Surely you will get the claim as well as interest also as you have proved them that the policy premium were paid fully.
keep the battle going.and keep us updated about the issue.
thanks
:wink:
Posted: Sun Apr 19, 2009 07:58 am Post Subject:
Hi veranew1.
Its good to know that you found all those your father's insurance policies and surely you also get interest but not very high. Because if policy is not claim for certain period the unclaimed money will be transfer to suspense account. I have one doubts that If you are the beneficiary in policy, why didn't they contacted you till date ? You can directly contact to agent if he is active still or claim department of that insurance company. You have really understand what type of plan they are. And i think the best person to respond on claim is LORI.
Lori any comments on related issue?
Posted: Sun Apr 19, 2009 10:57 am Post Subject:
The insurance company doesn't contact the beneficiary because the insurance company has no way of knowing that the insured has died. All that the insurance company would know is that the premium payments stopped, thus the policy would lapse. The beneficiary would then have to have proof that that the insured died before the policy lapsed.
Posted: Sun Apr 19, 2009 03:36 pm Post Subject:
Hello Walle,
You asked why they did not contact him till date. The only time an insurance company has the obligation to contact a beneficiary is the time they know that the insured passed away. If they sent notices to the insured for deliguent payment and no one responed, they will just assume that the insured no longer wants the policy. They will then drop it. It is not to their advantage to chase the beneficiary down and ask if the insured person has passed. The other time they are obligated to contact the beneficiary is when the insured person on the policy turns 100 (close to the mortality table) However, this is only the case if the policy is a paid up policy and not a term. If the term policy is not active by the time the insured person turns 100, they will never attempt to contact the beneficiary.
Michael
Posted: Sun Apr 19, 2009 03:41 pm Post Subject:
The other time they are obligated to contact the beneficiary is when the insured person on the policy turns 100
They only have to make contact at age one hundred if the contract matures at age 100. They'll contact the insured and not the beneficiary.
Posted: Sun Apr 19, 2009 03:50 pm Post Subject:
Hello Insurance Expert,
They must contact the beneficiary if they can no longer get hold of the insured. There is a case here on ampminsure.com where the genteman(beneficiary) was surprised that the insurance company contacted him after his mother has been dead for a very long time. When he asked the insurance company why they contacted him they told him that the insured person on the policy turned 100 and that he was the beneficiary so they contacted him first.
I guess every insurance company is different and you cannot expect the same from every company.
However, thank you for informing me of that information.
Michael
Posted: Mon Apr 20, 2009 10:19 am Post Subject:
The insurance company doesn't contact the beneficiary because the insurance company has no way of knowing that the insured has died. All that the insurance company would know is that the premium payments stopped, thus the policy would lapse.
Hi Micheal, I remember the case you are referring to. So, the insurance company wouldn’t go about chasing the insured if the premiums stop coming from his side. They would simply drop the coverage.
However, I’m curious to know the role of an agent under such circumstances. Isn’t he responsible for informing the insured about the possible cancellation of coverage? And, in case the insured is dead, wouldn’t he contact the beneficiary?
Posted: Mon Apr 20, 2009 11:13 am Post Subject:
However, I’m curious to know the role of an agent under such circumstances. Isn’t he responsible for informing the insured about the possible cancellation of coverage? And, in case the insured is dead, wouldn’t he contact the beneficiary?
Yes, but....
Most people die when they are old which means that it is highly unlikely that the agent is still working for the company.
Also, if the agent doesn't have a close relationship, it is very possible that the agent doesn't know that the person has died.
Posted: Mon Apr 20, 2009 01:13 pm Post Subject:
Insurance Expert,
You are so correct...within the life insurance industry I truely believe that is is the highest case of a revolving door I can imagine. Many people start off as an insurance agent and do not make it a career. This unfortunately can cause issues when the time comes of claiming benefits. Yes, if the insured dies early there is a good chance that the agent can do homework, if they know that the insured person passed away. However, if the policy was bought over the internet, it runs into other issues...
Michael
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