Metropolitan Life Insurance Claim Denial
In an ideal world, you would carefully choose a life insurance policy, pay your monthly premiums, and be done with it. You would rest easy, knowing that your family will be taken care of should the worst happen. Life insurance should be something that you pick once, or update periodically in line with your finances and other circumstances, and otherwise forget about, trusting that your policy will pay out upon your death. Unfortunately, life insurance providers are not always true to their word.
Large life insurance providers like Metropolitan Life Insurance Company are always on the lookout for reasons to deny claims or limit payouts. The California life insurance and bad faith insurance attorneys at Gianelli & Morris are ready to help you understand your rights and fight for the coverage you and your family are due. Find out if you’re a good candidate to appeal a wrongful life insurance denial or file a bad faith insurance claim by contacting the Los Angeles offices of Gianelli & Morris for a free consultation.
Who is Metropolitan Life?
Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, often referred to as MetLife, is one of the biggest providers of life insurance in the country and across the globe. They have been around for 150 years, they have approximately 90 million customers around the world, and they are the 43rd-largest corporation in the United States.
MetLife has also been the subject of numerous lawsuits over the years for its treatment of customers, beneficiaries, and policyholders. They have been known to find creative ways to avoid paying benefits that are due and finding ways to unjustly profit off of benefits owed to their policyholders. If you have a MetLife claim that they are wrongfully refusing to pay out, you are not the only one. The Los Angeles life insurance denial attorneys at Gianelli & Morris have significant experience standing up to large providers like MetLife and ensuring that they pay our clients the benefits that they deserve.
Why Does MetLife Deny Claims?
There are very few legitimate reasons to deny a life insurance claim. If the policyholder dies within two years of the policy going into effect (the “contestability period”), a life insurance provider can investigate and deny claims due to problems in the life insurance application. If a person provided false information on their life insurance application, then the provider can rescind a policy and refund the premiums rather than pay out death benefits. Typical reasons a policy may be rescinded include:
- Lying about income
- Failing to disclose medical history
- Lying about smoking, alcohol, or drug use
- Failing to disclose another life insurance policy
- Misrepresenting immigration status
- Suicide within two years of policy effective date
After the contestability period, life insurance providers cannot deny claims even if the policyholder lied on their application. Life insurance companies can only rely on very specific reasons to deny a claim, including:
- Lapse of a policy due to unpaid premiums
- Specifically excluded causes of death, such as death during the commission of a crime
- The death was the result of murder by a beneficiary
Whether your claim was denied during or after the contestability period, you do not have to take MetLife at their word. The provider may have incorrect information, they may intentionally or accidentally misinterpret their own policies, and insurance agents may have even caused application errors themselves. You have the right to appeal a denial, and if your life insurance provider has acted in bad faith, you might even have a claim for damages. The insurance denial and bad faith attorneys at Gianelli & Morris are here to help you fight for the coverage you are due.
If MetLife Wrongfully Denied Your Life Insurance Claim, Gianelli & Morris is Here to Help
Life insurance providers like MetLife are required to pay out claims that are rightfully owed under their policies. There are specific, limited legal grounds on which MetLife can rely to deny a claim. Moreover, many of those grounds are limited to circumstances under which the policyholder dies within two years of the policy’s start date. If MetLife rejects your claims, you have the right to fight back. You deserve the benefits you paid for, and we will help you get them.
If your loved one has passed and your life insurance claim has been denied by Metropolitan Life or another California life insurance provider, contact the passionate and talented Los Angeles insurance denial lawyers Gianelli & Morris for a free evaluation of your claim. Call us today at 213-489-1600.
