Insurance Company Tries to Get Out of Pay Out By Sheila Challiner At Isnare.com Ezine Articles

When a loved dies, especially in a tragic accident, you do not expect the pain of your loss to be made worse by your insurance company.

This is what happened to David Webb, who was left to raise his two year old daughter on his own, after his wife was killed when a suicidal motorist deliberately drove his car into theirs.

Mr and Mrs Webb, from Letchworth, Hertfordshire, and their daughter Samantha had been driving on the A1 in December 2004 when their car was rammed by 19-year-old Charles Brown.

Driving the wrong way at 90mph, he was trying to kill himself after being dumped by his girlfriend.

Brown, of Langford, Bedfordshire, was only injured in the crash and was later given a ten-year jail sentence after admitting manslaughter.

The devastated electrician knew his 29-year-old wife Sarah could never be replaced, but he hoped that claiming on their dual life insurance policy would at least help him to meet the costs of suddenly becoming a lone parent.

But Mr Webb was left shattered when Legal & General refused the claim. This was due to a dispute over whether or not charity worker MrsWebb had been a smoker.

The insurance company said that when she filled out the insurance form she had indicated that she was not a smoker. However, a contradictory entry on her medical records was found.

When the form was filled out in 2001 Mrs Webb had given up smoking as they were planning to start a family.

Even though, whether or not she had been a smoker had absolutely nothing to do with her death, Legal and General said it was not obliged to pay out as they claim important information had been withheld.

Mr Webb was then thrown into a legal battle which lasted two and a half .This has been resolved with him receiving 100,000 pounds in an out-of-court settlement.

He said: "I was distraught when my wife was killed, especially given the sudden and horrific circumstances. The last thing I needed was to have to fight my insurance company. They should be ashamed."

It was soon after his wife’s tragic death that Mr Webb phoned his insurer about the life insurance policy, which would pay out 200,000 pounds for each partner.

A clause in the application had asked: "Have you used any tobacco products in the last 12 months?"

But when filling out the form in 2001, a pregnant Mrs Webb, who had given up smoking, said no. Her husband, who is a smoker, said yes.

When however the insurers examined her medical records they found a form that had been completed from her maternity papers, that had the "smoker" box ticked.

They took this to mean information had been with held by her, even though her family insisted that she gave up smoking when she started to try for a family.

Mr Webb said: "I never dreamed that Legal & General would search through Sarah's medical records and seek to avoid payment in this way. It's totally unbelievable."

Legal & General said: "After careful consideration we took the commercial decision, on a non-liability basis, to accept the offer of settlement from the solicitors acting on behalf of MrsWebb's estate."

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