Oklahoma City Insurance Law Blog

Insurance coverage is simultaneously one of the most complex yet simple business offerings. On the one hand, we all know that a policy is going to feature pages of fine-print legalese, coupled with riders, exclusions and other qualifying factors. Many of those ultimately catch policyholders in Oklahoma and elsewhere by surprise, resulting in unanticipated detriment. That is true regardless of the type of insurance involved.

Notwithstanding the “How could I have possibly foreseen that?” aspects often attaching to a policy, though, the essential idea and thrust of insurance is clear enough: Its purpose is to protect against loss and risk. Policyholders who duly pay their premiums and otherwise honor the terms of their insurance contracts have a reasonable expectation that their insurer will step up and perform when a claim for payment or performance is presented.

Purchasing life insurance is like providing a safety net for your family. For many in Oklahoma, a life insurance policy is the only way they can affordably assist their loved ones if they should pass away. In fact, your loved one may have offered an act of kindness for you by purchasing a life insurance policy that named you as the beneficiary.

After your loved one passed away, you may have counted on that policy to cover your expenses. If the insurer denied your claim for benefits, you have the right to know why and to seek assistance if you feel the rejection is unjustified.

Insurers love words. That is evident from scrutiny of virtually any insurance policy ever created. Drafters take fundamental clauses and expand them through clarifiers, exclusionary phrasing, footnotes and riders. They bury language in pages of fine print.

The intent of such wordsmithing is obvious, namely, to create maximum wiggle room to escape liability if possible when responding to a policyholder’s claim for damages.

Now that your parent has fallen considerably ill, either physically or mentally, you know that you will likely not have the ability to provide the needed care on your own. As a result, you have started looking into long-term care options to determine what services may best suit your loved one's situation.

Of course, as you explore these options, you may come to realize that you cannot afford the costs associated with such care. Before you panic, however, you remember that your parent has long-term care insurance. While you may feel thankful for this coverage, you need to remember that not every claim receives approval.