Understanding Life Insurance Fraud

 Posted on June 21, 2024 in Fraud

Carrying a life insurance policy is an important way to protect your family. A good life insurance policy can provide your family with financial security in case you pass away and can no longer provide for them. The desire to ensure your family’s financial health no matter what happens to you can make it tempting to be less than perfectly honest on your application. However, doing so could put you at risk of being charged with a federal insurance fraud crime. Because most major life insurance providers are national companies, people accused of life insurance fraud usually face federal criminal prosecution. A Dallas, TX federal insurance fraud lawyer can help if you have been charged with defrauding a life insurance company.

Lying on an Application for Life Insurance Counts as Fraud

This includes lies of omission. If you know relevant information but do not disclose it, this may constitute fraud. For example, if you are asked whether you engage in any high-risk hobbies and neglect to mention that you are an avid scuba diver because you feel that you take enough precautions to be safe, this might be considered fraud.

Answering questions in a more plainly dishonest fashion would also be considered fraud. While answering detailed questions about your medical history and medications might be uncomfortable and unpleasant, it is important to respond honestly.

However, there are situations where people - especially older adults, who are more likely to be shopping for life insurance - might simply forget something. If you were treated for early-stage skin cancer with a simple outpatient procedure more than a decade ago and have not thought about it in many years, you might not have been intentionally lying when you stated that you have no history of cancer. Accidental omissions are not normally considered criminal.

Faking a Death - A More Serious Form of Fraud 

Families who are in need have been known to lie about the policyholder’s death in order to collect life insurance money early. This is a very serious type of life insurance fraud. People who feign a family member’s death to collect life insurance money are often charged with other types of fraud. If you forged a death certificate, this is likely to result in additional charges. Filing a false police report claiming that a family member has disappeared in a way that would cause him to be presumed dead is another crime.

Contact a Dallas County, TX Federal Insurance Fraud Lawyer 

Spencer & Associates is experienced in defending people who are facing life insurance fraud accusations. Dallas, TX federal insurance fraud attorney Arnold Spencer has more than 25 years of experience handling federal fraud cases. Contact us at 214-385-8500 for a complimentary consultation.