Life Insurance

When Can An Insurance Company Declare A Policy Void?

August 27, 2011 | Mark S. Humphreys

If you live in Grand Prairie, Arlington, Fort Worth, Saginaw, Haslet, Newark, Rhome, Benbrook, Lake Worth, Crowley, Mansfield, or anywhere else in North Texas, there is a chance you have a life insurance policy. Naturally you would expect that the policy would pay the intended beneficary. Well, that is not always the case, particularly if the insurance company can show misrepresentations in the policy application. Whenever they try to do this, it is vital that an experienced Insurance Law Attorney be contacted.

The Texas Supreme Court took on this issue in a case decided in 1980, styled, Mattie Emmaline Mayes v. Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company. Here are some of the facts in the case.

On May 6, 1976, Albert Mayes signed and delivered to an agent, Part 1 of two applications for life insurance. Mays had not disclosed to Mutual Life that certain answers in his application which were correct when made had become false by the time the policies were delivered. The two policies were identical except for the amount of coverage.

Misrepresentation In Insurance Application By Applicant

August 25, 2011 | Mark S. Humphreys

Life insurance policy holders in Weatherford, Mineral Wells, Aledo, Azle, Peaster, Brock, Millsap, Hudson Oaks, Willow Park, Springtown, and other places in Parker County would be interested in this case.

The case was decided by the Texas Supreme Court in 1978. The case is styled, James D. Robinson v. The Reliable Life Insurance Company. The insured beneficiary in this case lost at the trial court level and the first appeals court level and in the Supreme Court.

The question on appeal was whether an insurance company, in order to avoid liability of a policy of life insurance for the reason of false representations in the insurance application, must establish both that (1) the misrepresentation was material to the risk and that (2) the condition about which the misrepresentation was made contributed to the death of the insured.

Accidental Death Benefits

July 28, 2011 | Mark S. Humphreys

Accidental deaths would be common in Grand Prairie, Arlington, Fort Worth, Hurst, Euless, Bedford, Keller, Saginaw, Grapevine, and any other place in Texas. It is simply one of those things that is going to happen.

A lot of people have insurance policy’s that provide coverage in the event of an accidental death. These policies are known as “accidental death” policies. The United States District Court, Southern District of Texas, Houston Division, issued an opinion on June 29, 2011, in the case styled, Cheryl Likens v. Hartford Life and Accident Insurance Company. This case made a summary judgment ruling regarding an accidental death policy that people who have these types of policies should understand. Here is some background.

Wesley Vincent fell at his home in February 2008, and suffered injuries to his cervical spine. He died as a result of that injury four days later. The discharge summary from the hospital listed his cause of death as “anoxic brain injury secondary to cardiopulmonary arrest.”

Life Insurance – ERISA And Misrepresentation

April 30, 2011 | Mark S. Humphreys

Here is a case for insureds in Grand Prairie, Weatherford, Mineral Wells, Arlington, Dallas, Fort Worth, and other places in Texas to think about.

This case was decided by the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, on April 13, 2011. The style of the case is, Araceli Medina Garcia v. American United Life Insurance Company. Here is some background.

In January 2006, Salvador DeReza Garcia died in a car accident. At the time of this death, Salvador was covered under a group life and accidental death insurance policy issued by American United Life Insurance Company (AUL) and subject to the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), 29 U.S.C. Sections 1001-46. Salvador’s wife, Araceli Medina Garcia, submitted a claim under this policy following his death. AUL denied her claim because Salvador was living illegally in the United States and made material misrepresentations regarding his identity during the application process. A lawsuit was filed, the district court ruled in AUL’s favor. This appeal followed. This appeals court affirmed the ruling of the trial court.

Mortgage Accidental Death Policy

April 12, 2011 | Mark S. Humphreys

Mortgage holders in Grand Prairie, Weatherford, Arlington, Aledo, Azle, Fort Worth, Dallas, Irving, Hurst, Euless, Bedford, Pantego, and other places in Texas would find an interest in the case discussed below.

The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, issued an opinion on March 18, 2011, styled, Brenda LeMeilleur v. Monumental Life Insurance Company: Trustees of the National Homeowners Group Insurance Trust, c/o Countrywide Insurance Services, Incorporated. This case is an appeal from the district court where a ruling was handed down in favor of the insurance company. That ruling was affirmed by this appeals court.

Here are some facts:

Life Insurance Denials

March 20, 2011 | Mark S. Humphreys

When someone in Grand Prairie, Arlington, Dallas, Fort Worth, Mansfield, De Soto, Duncanville, Ennis, Weatherford, Aledo, or any other place in Texas, buys life insurance they expect that when they die, the life insurance company will pay the benefits of the policy to their named beneficiary. However that is not always what happens.

The Washington Post published an article on March 5, 2011, titled “Death of a loved one can be beginning of hard fight with life insurer.” The article is written by David Evans of Bloomberg News.

The article tells of a lady named Jane Pierce who spent nine years struggling alongside her husband, Todd, as he fought cancer in his sinus cavity. The treatments were working. Then in July 2009, Todd died in a fiery car crash. He was 46. That was the beginning of a whole new battle for Jane, this time with Todd’s life insurance company, MetLife.

Who Buys Life Insurance?

January 11, 2011 | Mark S. Humphreys

Most people in places like Arlington, Grand Prairie, Dallas, Fort Worth, Mansfield, Benbrook, Burleson, Crowley, Granbury, and other places in Texas will have some sort of life insurance. But how true is that statement?

The Wall Street Journal published on article on October 3, 2010, titled, “Shift to Wealthier Clientele Puts Life Insurers in a Bind”. The article was written by Mark Maremont and Leslie Scism.

This article tells how the life insurance industry has enjoyed beneficial tax treatment for its products for most of the century. Whenever Congress tried to change the tax treatment enjoyed by beneficaries of the policies the life insurance companies could always holler: We protect widows and orphans.

Incontestibility In Life Insurance Policies

January 2, 2011 | Mark S. Humphreys

People with life insurance policies in Fort Worth, Dallas, Grand Prairie, Arlington, Hurst, Euless, Bedford, Lake Worth, Benbrook, Burleson, and other places in Texas may wonder if the life insurance company can contest their life insurance after purchasing it. Here is some guidance on this issue.

The Texas Insurance Code addresses incontestibility clauses in atleast two separate places in the insurance code. The first one is in Sections 705.101 and 705.105. Of these five statutes, four deal generally with this issue, while 705.104 is more direct. It says:

“A defense based on a mispresentation in the application for, or in obtaining, a life insurance policy on the life of a person in or residing in this state is not valid or unenforceable in a suit brought on the policy on or after the second anniversary of the date of issuance of the policy if premiums due on the policy during the two years have been paid to and received by the insurer, unless:

Life Insurance – Misrepresentation In Application

December 23, 2010 | Mark S. Humphreys

Anybody with life insurance in Dallas, Fort Worth, Grand Praire, Arlington, Weatherford, Garland, Mesquite, Mansfield, or anywhere else in Texas who has life insurance would have had to fill out an application for that insurance. So what happens if the life insurance company denies benefits under that policy and cites the reason as there being a misrepresentation in the application for the policy? Continue reading to get some guidance as to what might happen.

For a life insurance company to establish misrepresentation by the insured as legally sufficient grounds for denying benefits, the life insurance company must prove five elements in any lawsuit brought trying to get the benefits paid to the benficiary. Here are those five elements:

1) the making of a misrepresentation;

Life Insurance Exclusions For Pilots

December 21, 2010 | Mark S. Humphreys

Does anybody in Dallas, Fort Worth, Grand Prairie, Arlington, Irving, Mesquite, Garland, Cedar Hill, Duncanville, De Soto, Lancaster, or anywhere in Texas have a pilot’s license? The answer is yes. So the next question is, “Are they covered in their life insurance policy if they die in an airplane crash?” The answer to that is, “It depends.”

All insurance policies are going to have “exclusions”. These exclusions will limit the responsibility of the life insurance company to pay death benefits when these exclusions may apply.

This issue came up in the case, American Home Assurance Company v. Loretta Anne Brandt. This is an older case which was decided in 1989 by the Texarkana Court of Appeals. The exclusion in this case excluded coverage by the following provision: “LIMITED AIR TRAVEL COVERAGE: Insurance provided under the policy includes riding as a passenger, but not as a pilot or crew member in, including boarding or alighting from, or being struck by, any aircraft.”