life insurance and bankruptcy

by Guest » Fri Jul 03, 2009 03:00 am
Guest

My husband passed away about 4 months ago and I am I am being denied our AD&D insurance. They are trying to say that it wasn't accidental. That he should have known that what he was doing could have caused death. It wasn't in the list of exclusions at all.

I have an attorney in my home state looking over everything but I am not sure who should handling this. This is what he is looking into. Here is my problem. My husband and I worked for contracting jobs so we were working out of state. We were working in Kentucky that is where we obtained our policies. We were staying in Indiana at the time of the accident. The accident happened in kentucky, he was pronounced dead in Indiana. Our home state was Ohio so what state do we handle the insurance in?

This is so confusing! I have a family member who worked for and retired from a pretty big insurance company in Ohio and he said that since the company is making it hard on me that I should file a complaint with Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana and Pennsylvania. He said we should include Pennsylvania because that is where their headquarters are.

Would anyone on here be able to tell me who would have jurisdiction over this case?

Total Comments: 14

Posted: Fri Jul 03, 2009 03:05 am Post Subject: sorry forgot to add

The bankruptcy part. I can not afford our debts on my own. If I file bankruptcy if I some how get our insurance will that be taken from me?

Posted: Fri Jul 03, 2009 03:36 am Post Subject:

The bankruptcy question is a tough one. When you declare bankruptcy, you submit to a means test that will show you do not have sufficient income to support the entire debt load. A judge does preside over each bankruptcy case, and it would be dishonest of you to claim that you are unable to pay your debts if you know that you have a large life insurance benefit pending.

If the life insurance policy is large enough to pay off all debts, bankruptcy is probably not an option.

Posted: Fri Jul 03, 2009 09:01 am Post Subject:

Hi Melanie,

My husband passed away about 4 months ago and I am I am being denied our AD&D insurance.



Why exactly the insurance company think that your husband's death doesn't qualify for accidental death benefit?

Further, what types of debts he had? Are you sure that you are responsible for his debts? I'd have checked with the lawyer if I'm at all required to repay his debts or not.

~ Jeremy

Posted: Fri Jul 03, 2009 01:37 pm Post Subject:

His BAC was a little higher then what is legal. They don't have that in their exclusions though. And the police report said that a witness said he was speeding. He wasn't. My older son was right behind him in our van. The police didn't even take my son's statement.

After I posted this I decided to check my credit report and it looks like I'm ok. He had a lot of hospital bills in 2008 from another accident. They aren't showing up on my credit report. We didn't have any insurance then.

Posted: Sat Jul 04, 2009 12:07 am Post Subject:

"BAC a little higher than what is legal" is probably not an exclusion. However, "driving under the influence" or something similar is probably excluded.

Posted: Sat Jul 04, 2009 02:51 am Post Subject:

Ughh, I just posted a reply and it isn't on here. So hopefully I'm not double posting.

What I really need to know is what state I need to take action in. I have already contacted a really good attorney here in Ohio but I'm waiting for his answer.

I have been reading up on Ohio and Kentucky law and their laws state that if the wording of the policy is ambigous then they favor in the insured. This policy is. Their exclusions are pretty cut and dry. Nothing in there ever says anything about drinking and driving. My husband didn't leave the house slurring, stumbling or anything. He was fine. He was on Kentucky roads that are pretty dangerous espeically if you aren't used to them. He slowed down for a curve but wasn't used to the bike he was on (it was a friends bike) It had crash bars and stuff on it that he wasn't used to and probably leaned a little to much and it scraped.

I'm not worried to much about the insurance company but I was wondering what state anyone might know I'm supossed to file this in?

Posted: Sat Jul 04, 2009 06:45 am Post Subject:

My older son was right behind him in our van. The police didn't even take my son's statement.



How old is your son? I think if the child is a minor then his witness wouldn't count much, especially when there is another witness who has confirmed that your husband was speeding.

Anyway, regarding filing the case, hasn't your attorney suggested you anything about the state you need to file with? When you say that you have a good lawyer, isn't it expected that he/she would give you proper guidance?

Posted: Sat Jul 04, 2009 10:55 am Post Subject:

My son is 17. My attorney said that most likely we can file in Ohio but first wanted to check to be sure. I had different letters from the insurance company that had reffered to diferent states. He is also trying to contact the Kentucky State Police to see if they had a more detialed accident report then what I was given from my insurance company.

So while he is doing that stuff I decided to keep myself busy by getting on here.

Posted: Sat Jul 04, 2009 12:45 pm Post Subject:

If you are trying to file a lawsuit, you need a new attorney if he can't figure out where to do it. If you are trying to file a complaint with the insurance commissioner, it should be the state where this policy was issued.

I'm curious as to what is listed as an exclusion on the policy. I'm finding it very hard to believe that drinking and driving is not listed. If he had a BAC that was above legal, he's not considered "fine".

What are the exclusions on the policy?

Posted: Sat Jul 04, 2009 02:06 pm Post Subject:

Thank you for the information



The exclusions were

1. Intentionall self-inflicted injuries, or any attempt thereat, while sane or insane

2. Declared or undeclared war or act of war

3. Accident occurring while the insured is serving on full time active duty for more than 30 days in any armed forces

4. travel or flight (including getting in or out, on or off) in aircraft or device which can fly above the earths surface,

5. commission of a felony by the insured

6. sickness, disease, bodily or mental infimity, or medical or surgical treatment thereof or bacteial or viral infection, regardless of how contracted this does not include bacterial infectio that is the natural and foreseeable result of an accidental external cut or wound, or accidental food poisoning

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