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Question

Can Principal take away my deceased husband's 3 month survivor benefit? They justified it saying he was eligible for SSDI when he didn't even apply.

Asked on March 30th 2017 by Michele W.
My deceased husband has a disability policy with Principle. He was paid by Principle for 7 months and then died. His policy had a survivor benefit of 3 months net pay. Principle told me that because he was eligible for SSDI that he would not receive the survivor benefit because he should have received SSDI. My husband never even applied for SSDI. They told me to recoup the amount of the survivor benefit from SSDI. I went to SSDI and tried to file a claim. SSDI stated he would only receive one month payment ($2000). The survivor benefit is worth $12000. I don’t understand. Please help! What happen to $12000?

Answer

Answered on June 1st 2017 by Attorney Stephen Jessup

Michele, I am sorry to hear of your loss. We would need to see a copy of the disability policy to determine any rights you may have. Most policies do pay out a 3 month survivor benefit at the gross benefit amount. However, Principal is known for writing policy language that differs in various ways from industry standards. We would need to make sure there was no caveat to receipt of the survivor benefit. Additionally, if you have not inquired – most employers provided both life and disability insurance as part of an employee benefits package. When someone becomes disabled there is typically a waiver or premium on the life insurance policy – so if he had life insurance and you have not made a claim I would strongly recommend you look into same.

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