Gov't: Prudential illegally denied life insurance claims

Prudential Financial illegally denied more than 200 life insurance claims despite collecting premiums from plan participants, the Department of Labor said Wednesday, the latest case where a life insurer was found to be denying claims even though the customer had been paying into the plan for years. The settlement between Prudential and the U.S. government deals with what is known as “evidence of insurability,” a common practice in underwriting life insurance contracts where the insured is required to fill out showing they are in good health before being covered by life insurance. According to the settlement, Prudential collected premiums on some of these participants going back in some cases to 2004, despite not having the appropriate form filled out.