Life Insurance Litigation

Life Insurance
Litigation

With attorneys licensed in New York, New Jersey, and Massachusetts, Trief & Olk specializes in representing beneficiaries of life insurance policies in disputes relating to these policies . For example, a life insurance company may deny payment based on supposed nonpayment of premiums or alleged misrepresentations in the application, or there may be a dispute between competing beneficiaries. Our firm has recovered many millions of dollars for our clients.

Life Insurance
Litigation

Trief & Olk has litigated against the major life insurance companies, including
MetLife, Prudential, John Hancock, AIG, MassMutual, First-Penn Pacific, Primerica,
and William Penn. Our lawyers have specific expertise representing beneficiaries in
disputes relating to employer-provided life insurance policies (which are governed by
the federal statute known as ERISA) and policies covering federal government
employees (under the FEGLI program).

Trief & Olk's years of experience litigating claims relating to life insurance policies have
given us in-depth knowledge of insurance principles, practices, and terminology, in
addition to insurance law. This expertise enables us to properly evaluate and litigate life
insurance matters. For additional details on our life insurance practice, please see

our related website.

Trief & Olk has litigated against the
major life insurance companies,
including MetLife, Prudential, John Hancock, AIG, MassMutual, First-Penn Pacific, Primerica, and William Penn.
Our lawyers have specific expertise representing beneficiaries in disputes relating to employer-provided life insurance policies (which are
governed by the federal statute
known as ERISA) and policies
covering federal government
employees (under
the FEGLI program).

Trief & Olk's years of experience
litigating claims relating to life
insurance policies have given us
in-depth knowledge of insurance principles, practices, and terminology,
in addition to insurance law.
This expertise enables us to properly evaluate and litigate life insurance
matters. For additional details on our life
insurance practice, please see our

related website.

Some examples of our successful representations in life insurance denial matters are:

Victory at trial (affirmed by NY’s highest court) against William Penn Life Insurance Company,
for wrongful denial in coverage based on insured’s alleged misrepresentations in the policy
application, receiving the full $3 million of the policy value plus interest.

See summary and memorandum here.

Successful appeal, recovering the full $1.5 million (plus interest) from Metropolitan Life
Insurance Company to defeat MetLife’s allegation that insured misrepresented
her net worth when applying for the policy.

Without having to file suit, obtaining full $1.2 million owed from Primerica when policy had
been improperly terminated based on oral request despite policy’s requirement that
termination requests be submitted in writing.

Without having to file suit, obtaining the full $1 million owed (plus interest)
from Protective Life Insurance when policy lapse notice was not mailed
within the requisite window mandated by New York insurance law.

Negotiating settlement of $675,000 on policy worth $699,000, through discovery of information
suggesting insurer had not sent grace period notice and may have represented to the insured
that late payment was sufficient.

Received full amount of death benefits owed for beneficiaries of insureds who had been
incapacitated due to illness and therefore were unable to pay premium on time, after obtaining
medical records to demonstrate the incapacity to the insurers.

Victory at trial (affirmed by NY’s
highest court) against William Penn Life Insurance Company, for wrongful
denial in coverage based on insured’s alleged misrepresentations in the
policy application, receiving the full $3 million of the policy value plus interest.

See summary and memorandum here.

Successful appeal, recovering
the full $1.5 million (plus interest)
from Metropolitan Life Insurance Company to defeat MetLife’s
allegation that insured misrepresented
her net worth when applying
for the policy.

Without having to file suit, obtaining
full $1.2 million owed from Primerica when policy had been improperly terminated based on oral request
despite policy’s requirement that
termination requests be submitted
in writing.

Without having to file suit, obtaining the full $1 million owed (plus interest)
from Protective Life Insurance when policy lapse notice was not mailed
within the requisite window mandated
by New York insurance law.

Negotiating settlement of $675,000
on policy worth $699,000, through discovery of information
suggesting insurer had not sent
grace period notice and may have represented to the insured
that late payment was sufficient.

Received full amount of death
benefits owed for beneficiaries of insureds who had been incapacitated
due to illness and therefore were
unable to pay premium on time, after obtaining medical records to
demonstrate the incapacity
to the insurers.

If you have suffered losses from an insurance company’s denial of a life insurance claim please contact our attorneys, who are licensed in New York, New Jersey, and Massachusetts, for more information or to discuss your case. For more information about life insurance claim denial litigation, please click here.