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My mum passed away & left a small life insurance policy through her company for my sister & me. We all live in different states. My mum gave me a letter from her employer, dated 1990, that said her life insurance policy would still be held in her name & her beneficiaries could collect on it when she passed by contacting the HR Dept.
So, the only info I have is her employer's info & policy amount. I do not know the policy number or which insurance company was used, if any... the policy was through her employer. BTW, yes, the employer is still in business... it's a lucrative nursing home in Boston.
My problem is that I can't get a call back from anyone by phone, email or snail mail. I've left 3 voice mails for the HR Director since March, with no return call... I sent 1 email in May.
My sister has reached 2 different people, since Jan, when she's called. They said they's mail forms to her to fill out & then she never receives them. She did not get the names of anyone, unfortunately. In any event, when she now calls, she never reaches anyone either, leaves VM & hasn't had a call back.
So, 1 mo ago, I certified mailed a copy of my mum's letter with a copy of the death cert & my own letter explaining all the above with full addresses, emails & phones for both of us. < Insert crickets > One more month has passed.
I'll try to call 1 more time on Monday. If I'm unable to reach anyone, is there any gov't office I can contact to help? It's such a small amount, I don't want to pay a lawyer (although, I'd have no idea which kind to call). Since my mum was 90 & the policy was from Boston, would I call the MA Secy of State's Office of Elder Affairs? Or, do I contact someone in IA, where I'm living now? My sister is in CA.
I'm unsure why someone hasn't at least mailed forms a 3rd time to my sister or me or both, if they've actually mailed them at all (it's odd they wouldn't arrive twice), even if they don't call or email a reply.
Does anyone have any suggestions on who can help us?
I'll try to call 1 more time on Monday. If I'm unable to reach anyone, is there any gov't office I can contact to help? It's such a small amount, I don't want to pay a lawyer (although, I'd have no idea which kind to call). Since my mum was 90 & the policy was from Boston, would I call the MA Secy of State's Office of Elder Affairs? Or, do I contact someone in IA, where I'm living now? My sister is in CA.
I'm unsure why someone hasn't at least mailed forms a 3rd time to my sister or me or both, if they've actually mailed them at all (it's odd they wouldn't arrive twice), even if they don't call or email a reply.
Does anyone have any suggestions on who can help us?
Thank you.
Looks like Elder Affairs is concerned with living elders, etc. You might do better with MA's Div Of Insurance where they claim to "intervening on behalf of consumers who believe they have been victimized by unfair business practices."
Some employer insurance is only in effect during the period of employment - if you can't find any paperwork on the company, I don't really think there is anything you can do.
My mum passed away & left a small life insurance policy through her company for my sister & me. We all live in different states. My mum gave me a letter from her employer, dated 1990, that said her life insurance policy would still be held in her name & her beneficiaries could collect on it when she passed by contacting the HR Dept.
So, the only info I have is her employer's info & policy amount. I do not know the policy number or which insurance company was used, if any... the policy was through her employer. BTW, yes, the employer is still in business... it's a lucrative nursing home in Boston.
My problem is that I can't get a call back from anyone by phone, email or snail mail. I've left 3 voice mails for the HR Director since March, with no return call... I sent 1 email in May.
My sister has reached 2 different people, since Jan, when she's called. They said they's mail forms to her to fill out & then she never receives them. She did not get the names of anyone, unfortunately. In any event, when she now calls, she never reaches anyone either, leaves VM & hasn't had a call back.
So, 1 mo ago, I certified mailed a copy of my mum's letter with a copy of the death cert & my own letter explaining all the above with full addresses, emails & phones for both of us. < Insert crickets > One more month has passed.
I'll try to call 1 more time on Monday. If I'm unable to reach anyone, is there any gov't office I can contact to help? It's such a small amount, I don't want to pay a lawyer (although, I'd have no idea which kind to call). Since my mum was 90 & the policy was from Boston, would I call the MA Secy of State's Office of Elder Affairs? Or, do I contact someone in IA, where I'm living now? My sister is in CA.
I'm unsure why someone hasn't at least mailed forms a 3rd time to my sister or me or both, if they've actually mailed them at all (it's odd they wouldn't arrive twice), even if they don't call or email a reply.
Does anyone have any suggestions on who can help us?
Thank you.
Find out who is representing them legally and send the packet of the documents to them with the demand?
Find out who is the owner? The individual or the company? It may give you more options sometimes one way or the other.
You could post the name of business here - someone local may help with better ideas, or can help with the research for you
Depending on the amount of the policy - you could file it by mail in MA in a small claims court. You could do it without a lawyer.
MA had $7000 limit. So you and your sister could file each for $7K? Making it $14K? Not sure if it is worth it to you to travel for a court date? Make it a vacation?
Complaining to MA Attorney General may help to start the ball rolling?
Looks like Elder Affairs is concerned with living elders, etc. You might do better with MA's Div Of Insurance where they claim to "intervening on behalf of consumers who believe they have been victimized by unfair business practices."
Also might try bypassing HR by contacting the CEO or owner of the nursing home.
And/or contact the local MA District Attorney re possible fraud charges.
Good Luck.......
TY Reed. That's a good resource. One of their pages lists info with finding a deceased person's lost life insurance policy, so I'll check into it. Unsure if they can help since I don't know if there's a difference between life insurance policies with large companies (like Prudential, SBLI) & this employer, which makes it seem as if the policy is with the company itself... maybe I'm wrong.
I'm assuming that since my sister reached someone twice in HR, who said they'd mail forms to her, that's the correct dept? I just don't want to get surly with them, cuz I'm afraid they won't help us, if they are indeed the ones we need for help... Bostonians are surly enough... I grew up there.
I'll try to call 1 more time on Mon & leave a VM saying I'm unsure why we're not getting return calls, so I'll call the < Administrator, CEO > if she doesn't return my call. Maybe I'll be lucky & someone will actually answer the phone this time.
Find out who is representing them legally and send the packet of the documents to them with the demand?
Find out who is the owner? The individual or the company? It may give you more options sometimes one way or the other.
You could post the name of business here - someone local may help with better ideas, or can help with the research for you
Depending on the amount of the policy - you could file it by mail in MA in a small claims court. You could do it without a lawyer.
MA had $7000 limit. So you and your sister could file each for $7K? Making it $14K? Not sure if it is worth it to you to travel for a court date? Make it a vacation?
Complaining to MA Attorney General may help to start the ball rolling?
Don't know how I'd find out who their lawyers are? But, I'll contact the suggestions Reed listed above. Reed listed some of your suggestions, too (contacting owner/CEO/etc). Good idea, TY.
No one's going cross country to Boston for small claims.
I'll call HR one last time, then call the CEO/Admin/whomever at the company... then begin with the Div of Ins to see if they can help (more in previous post, which came in after yours, so I won't reiterate).
TY.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Flamingo13
Some employer insurance is only in effect during the period of employment - if you can't find any paperwork on the company, I don't really think there is anything you can do.
Untrue. It's a valid policy according to the letter I referenced above... one of her benefits.
Some employer insurance is only in effect during the period of employment - if you can't find any paperwork on the company, I don't really think there is anything you can do.
OP said his mother was 90 years old,so she must have retired long ago from her job.
The insurance policy would be issued to the employer not individual employee
OP said his mother was 90 years old,so she must have retired long ago from her job.
The insurance policy would be issued to the employer not individual employee
You are right - and that could be a problem for OP - what if the company stopped paying to insurance company years ago?
OP said his mother was 90 years old,so she must have retired long ago from her job.
The insurance policy would be issued to the employer not individual employee
Quote:
Originally Posted by L00k4ward
You are right - and that could be a problem for OP - what if the company stopped paying to insurance company years ago?
I'll find out, but in recent years (2017, I believe) she changed beneficiaries on it, so it's no doubt still valid & her letter says her beneficiaries should contact HR to collect on it (that's in the 1st post). As I said, it was one of her perks with her job. Also in the 1st post, twice HR said they'd mail forms to my sister & to return them with a death cert, which they wouldn't do if it weren't valid.
So, my q's weren't to find out the validity, but to get HR to re-send the forms. With all the above, I'm assuming they're who we need to contact. It would be quite odd if not, no?
I'll post back when I have new info.
I'm a girl, btw.
Thx for the replies. I appreciate it.
Last edited by A.Typical.Girl; 06-11-2022 at 04:01 PM..
I’m sure you’ve done this already, but, have you looked through all of her papers at her house? I mean every single one of them? When my mother passed, she literally had thousands of papers all over her house. Trying to find the will, life insurance policy and information on stocks was very difficult and took days. I will have it all organized for my children when the time comes.
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