Foreign Death Claims
A foreign death claim is when an insured dies outside of the United States. Before a life insurance claim is paid the insurer requires proof of the insured’s death. When the death occurs in the US the necessary documentation is a death certificate and the Claim form. But when the death occurs outside of the US the insurer may require any number of documents before it will pay the claim. Some of the more challenging aspects of foreign death life insurance claims are gathering foreign documents, obtaining medical records and certified death certificates.
How Does an Insurance Company Handle Foreign Deaths?
Proof of someone’s death must be supplied by a credible source before the life insurance claim will be paid. In the case of a foreign death, such sources must also be verified. The insurer typically hires an outside third-party to verify sources and, if necessary, investigate certain aspects of the life insurance claim. Depending on the investigator’s experience, they may conduct their investigation expecting foreign countries to follow the same practices and procedures as the United States. But for many reasons other countries have their own practices and this is often the can cause of long delays in getting foreign death claims processed.
Insurers cannot demand documentation that you cannot provide. They cannot deny your claim or delay payment for things you cannot provide to them — medical records, family information, history, certifications. If your claim is being held-up by the insurer call us for help. 1-888-428-4868
Some of the documents that help verify a death are death certificates, medical reports, funeral records, and autopsy reports. But in the case of foreign death claims these documents may not be enough proof for the insurer to pay the claim.
Is an insurer reasonable to require documents that are unique to the death procedures in the US? In one of our foreign death claims investigations in Haiti, the insurer demanded an obituary from a Haitian newspaper. Publishing deaths in Haiti is not a common practice so this presented a big challenge that we eventually overcame by accessing Haiti’s law history.
In another claim we represented for a death that occurred in Saudi Arabia the insurer wanted an autopsy report before they would approve the claim. In Saudi Arabia it is standard practice to embalm the body. Once embalming is done there is no chance for an autopsy. In this case we argued applicable US standards and the insurer conceded and paid the claim.
The country of Mexico has a practice of allowing a medical examiner to sign-off on a death either by viewing the body or by reviewing the deceased’s medical records. This is contrary to US practices and raises many issues of fraud. One of our Mexico death cases had the insurer questioning if there was even a real death. We traveled to Mexico ourselves and obtained proof with the help of several government officials.
In Sierra Leone, another country we conducted a claim investigation in, death certificates can be hand written. This is implausible in the United States. But, Sierra Leone is one of the poorest countries in Africa and the process of a computer generated death certificate stored electronically, (as is standard in the United States) in a central database, isn’t plausible.
In the United States it’s common for a medical examiner to take a photo of the cadaver. Insurers use such photos to verify proof of death. In a country like Mexico however (a country we do many investigations in), it’s unheard of and considered an invasion of privacy to photograph a cadaver.
Each country has its own unique procedures for recording a death and we have been able to work through many of the challenges presented to our clients in proving deaths in foreign countries to affect life insurance payments for foreign death claims.
Are Foreign Death Claims Denied by Life Insurers?
Do insurers use these customary differences to deny claims? Insurers argue they are being victimized by people faking their deaths, in foreign death claims, for the purpose of collecting life insurance claims. An article in the Los Angeles Times chronicled examples of foreign death claim fraud in Insurers’ Foreign Dilemma. Are US standards the only acceptable standards an insurer should apply to a proof of death?
There are many challenges to getting a foreign death claim paid and it helps to have a firm working for the beneficiary who knows the different customs in the industry. The insurer will likely apply US standards to every foreign death claim, regardless of the country of death. This raises a lot of problems for a beneficiary. It causes delays and may even cause a denial.
Additionally, the firms they hire to investigate documents and procedures of the foreign country may lack experience. And who are the individuals carrying out the work? What are their qualifications and backgrounds and how much effort will they put forth to verify information for a claim they have no vested interest in?
The beneficiary of a foreign death claim needs skilled and experienced experts to represent their claim. That is the work of the Center for Life Insurance Disputes – representing claimants to get difficult foreign death claims paid. We’ve gotten over $60 million of claims paid to our clients. Contact us to discuss your claim.
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