What to do when Term Life Insurance plan is cancelled and not transfered?

Question

My mother was diagnosed with cancer a year and a half ago and worked up until last December.

She had a $150,000 term life insurance plan through her old employer also. We just found a letter that we received around 4/18 saying that her benefits from work were going to be canceled on 4/18, this included her life insurance plan. They said the insurance company (Met Life) would contact us with details on how to transfer the policy or we could call a number. We were too busy caring for her at the time to deal with this.

We finally received the transfer papers from Met-Life today 5/20, a week and a half after she passed away on 5/8.

They tell us it is too late to transfer her plan and we cannot collect the the life insurance money. Is there any requirement for the insurance company to contact us in a hasty manner? Is there any way to transfer the policy now? I just saddens me to think that she died 3 weeks too late for us to receive the life insurance plan she paid for.

Answer 1

Good questions.

And the answer is, it depends.  If the policy would be transferrable, with guaranteed insurability, then you should still be able to return the transfer papers.  The thing is, the executor of her estate would have to sign for her.

I would file a complaint, in writing, with your state insurance department.  The delay on the part of Met is what cost you the coverage.

Answer 2

Sorry to hear about your loss. Check the policy and see if there was a grace period on the term policy she had from her employer.  Many times policies will have a grace period of 30 days.  I even worked for a company that granted a 60 day grace period to pay benefits before a policy lapsed.

You can't transfer the policy or convert it now that she has passed away so i would check about the grace period maybe she still had coverage.

You should contact your state's insurance department to see what your rights are.