Accidental Death and Dismemberment (also referred to as AD&D or ADD) insurance is a type of life insurance that may provide additional coverage to you and your family if a death is the result of an accident. This means your beneficiaries may be able to recover life insurance proceeds plus additional accidental death proceeds.
While this insurance can be an added benefit, it also has its own exclusions and limitations. Whether a death is an accident or not may sound like a simple enough concept, but insurance companies may still attempt to deny a claim for a variety of reasons such as suicide, intentionally self-inflicted injury, war, inhalation of poisonous gases, commission of a criminal act, use of alcohol or drugs, overdose, or death caused by a disease or sickness. Consider the following: an individual is involved in a motor vehicle accident and tragically dies. Almost universally, everyone would agree the death is the result of an accident, but what if the driver had taken medication that day? What if the driver was speeding? What if the driver had a heart condition at the time of the accident? Another example: someone has an adverse reaction to a medication and unexpectedly passes away. This also would vastly be considered an accident, but what if the person was prescribed too high of a dose? What if the medication reacted with another substance? What if the person had a preexisting medical condition?
Issues like these can make what seems like a straightforward question (accident or not?) more complex. If you have had a claim for life insurance or accidental death insurance denied, contact us for a case evaluation. Many people get their AD&D policies as an employee benefit through their employer. As a result, your insurance claim may be covered by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA). Our team of attorneys has decades of combined experience counseling clients and getting results. We have handled accidental death insurance lawsuits for beneficiaries in state and federal court.
Call us today to for a free evaluation to see if your claim for life insurance benefits was wrongfully denied. We are here to help you.