60 Minutes Episode on Life Insurance Benefits

Summary of 60 Minutes Episode: Not Paid

The 60 minutes episode this week was called ‘Not Paid’. It shined a light on how  life insurance carriers have been avoiding paying claims. Even well known companies like John Hancock, Metlife, and Prudential were named as having failed to pay out to deserving beneficiaries. An investigation has shown that the number of policies that were not paid were in the millions and occurred over many decades. These policies amount to billions of dollars in unpaid claims nationwide.

The Bottom Line

The policies that were not paid all had one thing in common. The beneficiaries never came forward to make the death claim. In most of the cases, the beneficiaries just did not know of the existence of the policy or had forgotten about it. The insurance carriers are in trouble because in many cases, the carrier had actual knowledge that the death of their client had occurred. But, because there was no formal death claim submitted by the beneficiary the carriers simply did not pay the claim and essentially pretended that they did not know about the death.

Lessons Learned

Treat your policies like a piece of fine jewelry. Keep them in a safe place that you can check on easily. Many people buy life insurance and forget what they have because they lose the paperwork. If this has happened to you then make sure to call your broker or the company that you bought the policy from to get another copy of the documents. Also, the most important lesson in all of this is to make sure to let your beneficiaries know that you have a life insurance policy with their names on it. Make sure they have a copy of the policy or at least know where the policy is located. This way they can formally submit the claim when that time comes.