Canadian insurance company denies death claim, says form was inaccurate

Florence Steele and her husband Harold were together for 55 years.

The Cape Breton couple’s love affair ended in April when Harold died after failing health.

On December 1, 2019, Harold and Florence obtained small life insurance policies with Toronto-based ivari, which describes itself as a leading Canadian life insurance provider.

But when Florence tried to collect on her late husband’s $12,000 policy this spring, the company denied the claim.

“I was shocked,” she told Global News during an interview outside her Delaware, Ont., home where she lives with her daughter, Danielle.

“That was my biggest problem: I trusted them,” Florence said.

According to the denial, there were inaccurate answers in the original application form that Harold filed with the company.

The form asks health-related questions. But the policy required no medical examination, blood tests, or other proof before it was approved.

Florence says she and her husband answered the health questions truthfully and to the best of their ability at the time.

“We did everything right … but I guess we weren’t smart enough,” Florence said.

Her daughter, Danielle, said the claim denial has been traumatic.

“It’s hard enough when a family member passes away, but to be taken advantage of like this, it’s horrible. No families should go through what we’ve gone through,” Danielle said.

“They must honour the policy,” said Toronto lawyer Sivan Tumarkin, whose practice specializes in disability law.

He wrote to ivari asking them to reassess the denial.

“Under the law, they have to show there was some kind of fraud committed at the beginning,” Tumarkin said.

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The letter of denial to Florence, the beneficiary, contains no such allegation.

Contacted by Global News, an ivari spokesperson declined to discuss details of the insurance claim, citing privacy.

“In every instance, ivari fully assesses the merits of a claim, following our claims guidelines and policy obligations. At ivari, we pride ourselves on our commitment to our policyholders as evidence by our year-to-date 2022 claim payout rate of over 99 per cent,” said Suzzette Chapman, senior vice president of communications and human resources with ivari.

In a letter to ivari, Tumarkin cited Ontario’s Insurance Act, which allows companies to void an insurance policy only during the first two years it is in effect.

“Provided that the insurance contract has been in effect for two years, the contract is no longer voidable for misrepresentation or non-disclosure, unless that non-disclosure or misrepresentation was both material and fraudulent,” wrote Tumarkin.

“Have I seen this before? I’ve seen this many times before,” Tumarkin told Global News, speaking about insurance company denials in general.

“They should do what’s right and give my mother what she’s entitled to,” said Danielle.

“People have to know they could find themselves in the same boat I’m in,” said Florence, who paid $2,900 in premiums through automatic bank withdrawals.