Legal Question in Insurance Law in Tennessee

Cancellation of life insurance policy

My brother-in-law died in September of 2003, of cancer of the liver, and spine. He had this life insurance policy for 18 months. When my mother-in-law turn in the claim it was deny, they stated that on his application that he lied about not being treated for liver diease, or acholism. In which he had been treated for acholism, and that he had cirrhosis. But he did not have cancer. Can they deny the claim even if statements made on his application are unrelated to what he died from. My mother-in-law lives in Tennesse, and the insurance company is in Florida.


Asked on 1/23/04, 1:23 pm

2 Answers from Attorneys
David Waldrop Holley, Waldrop, Nearn & Lazarov P.C.

Re: Cancellation of life insurance policy

If there is a misrepresentation in the application for insurance which is material and the insurance company would not have issued the policy then they can rescind the policy and declare it void from the insception.

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Answered on 1/29/04, 1:59 pm
Marshall Snyder Law Office Of Marshall Snyder

Re: Cancellation of life insurance policy

If your brother-in-law died of cancer and cancer was unknown to him at the time of the life insurance application, then the case can be made that the life insurance company is obligated to pay off. Even without knowledge of the cancer, however, the life insurance company may argue that the cancer was existing at the time of the application. If your brother-in-law did not report liver disease on the life insurance application, and he was aware of liver disease, the situation becomes even more complicated. You need to read the certificate of death for the cause of death and, if an autopsy was done, the cause of death listed on the autopsy. It sounds as though this may be a case where a medical expert would have to be retained by your family concerning the onset of the cancer if in fact cancer and not liver disease was the cause of death.

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Answered on 2/05/04, 6:49 pm


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