State life insurance claim laws
Life insurance is regulated mainly by the states, so the deadlines, interest and penalties on a late or denied death claim depend on which state's law applies. Each state guide links to the statute text it summarizes.
Alabama
Alabama requires interest on a lump-sum death claim not paid within 30 days of proof, lets an insurer avoid a policy only for fraudulent or material misstatements, requires an insurer pleading misrepresentation to pay the premiums into court, and limits the suicide exclusion to two years.
Alaska
Alaska's general deadline for contract suits is three years. Its unfair claim settlement statute says it does not create a private lawsuit, but the Alaska Supreme Court treats an insurer's bad-faith handling of its own insured's claim as a tort.
Arizona
If an Arizona insurer has a complete proof of loss and does not pay within 30 days, interest runs back to the day it received the claim. Arizona also recognizes a tort claim for bad-faith refusal to pay and lets courts award attorney fees in contract suits.
California
California gives policyholders a 60-day grace period, requires lapse notices to a backup contact, and starts interest on a late death benefit at the date of death.
Colorado
Colorado sets its own interest schedule for death benefits, tied to the federal discount rate, and bars a suicide defense after the first policy year. Its double-benefit remedy for unreasonable claim delay, by its own terms, leaves out life insurance written under the life insurance article.
Connecticut
Connecticut ties interest on death proceeds to the insurer's own settlement-option rate starting ten days after death, bars an insurer from relying on application errors if it ignores a demand for a copy of the application, and makes an employer liable for group life benefits when it fails to warn employees that coverage is ending.
Delaware
Delaware requires a life policy to promise settlement within 30 days of proof, adds 10% a year in extra interest once a fully documented claim goes unpaid past day 30, cuts the suicide exclusion from two years to one for policies issued from March 30, 2027, and lets a beneficiary sue on a policy for at least three years.
District of Columbia
In the District, a simple contract claim must be filed within three years, the Court of Appeals has declined to create an insurance bad-faith tort, and a conviction for murder or manslaughter bars the killer from the victim's insurance.
Florida
Florida ties interest on a death benefit to a bond index, protects older policyholders from surprise lapses, and lets beneficiaries bring a statutory bad-faith claim after a 60-day cure notice.
Georgia
Georgia makes life insurers pay interest from the date of death, and the rate jumps to 12% once a claim has been on file for 30 days. A separate statute adds a penalty and attorney fees when a bad-faith refusal outlasts a 60-day demand.
Hawaii
Hawaii owes no interest if a death claim is paid within 30 days, but after that interest runs back to the date of death at no less than 6% a year. Insurers must explain delays in writing at the 30-day mark, and Best Place v. Penn America (1996) recognized a first-party bad-faith tort that does not require proof of evil motive.
Idaho
In Idaho, an insurer that does not pay what is justly due within 30 days of proof of loss can be ordered to pay the beneficiary's attorney fees. Idaho's legal interest rate on money due is 12%, and the Idaho Supreme Court recognizes a tort for intentional, unreasonable delay or denial.
Illinois
Illinois charges insurers an annual 10% running from the day the insured died if a claim is not paid within 31 days of the last necessary document, and lets courts add fees and a penalty for vexatious delay.
Indiana
Indiana makes an insurer pay interest back to the date of death if an Indiana resident is not paid within 30 days, requires a written report within 20 business days when a claimant files a complaint, and treats a killer as a constructive trustee of the proceeds.
Iowa
Iowa charges insurers interest when death proceeds go unpaid for 30 days after proof, gives ten years to sue on a written contract, and denies benefits both to a beneficiary who intentionally causes the death and to one convicted of certain violent felonies against the insured in the six months before death.
Kansas
Kansas makes a life insurer pay interest once proceeds are unpaid 10 days after proof of death, and its 1907-era statute says an application misstatement is not material unless it actually contributed to the death. Bad faith is handled through fees and regulation, not a tort.
Kentucky
Kentucky sets a 30-day payment deadline for insurance claims with 12% interest and a fee award in some cases, protects beneficiaries offered a retained asset account, caps the suicide exclusion at two years, and bars a life policy from cutting the time to sue below three years.
Louisiana
Louisiana gives life insurers 60 days after proof of death to settle, charges 8% interest when they miss it without just cause, and in 2024 moved its general bad-faith rules into a statute that excludes life claims.
Maine
Maine makes an undisputed claim overdue after a set period and then charges the insurer 1.5% a month, plus the claimant's attorney fees. A separate statute lets a person sue their own insurer for unfair claim handling. Maine does not recognize an independent bad-faith tort.
Maryland
Maryland makes life insurers pay interest from the date of death unless they pay within 30 days, gives life claims their own 10-working-day and 30-day handling rules, and voids any policy clause that shortens the state's time to sue.
Massachusetts
In Massachusetts, many individual life policies cannot lapse for an unpaid premium for three months unless the insurer mailed a premium notice in advance, and a beneficiary whose rights are affected by an unfair claim practice can sue under Chapter 93A for multiple damages and attorney fees.
Michigan
Michigan gives insurers 30 days to say what proof of loss they need and 60 days after proof to pay, then adds 12% simple interest to late benefits. It also requires 30 days' written notice before a life policy terminates.
Minnesota
Minnesota charges life insurers interest from the date of death on every death claim, adds two points if payment comes more than 60 days after proof, limits suicide exclusions to the first policy year, and sets business-day deadlines for handling claims.
Missouri
In Missouri, a misstatement in a life insurance application does not void the policy unless the misstated matter actually contributed to the death. Late death claims carry 9% interest from the date of death, and a refusal to pay without reasonable cause can add a statutory penalty and attorney fees.
Montana
Montana gives an insurer 30 days after proof of loss to pay or deny, 60 if it reasonably asks for more information, and adds 10% annual interest when it misses the deadline. Claim-handling suits run through a statute, 33-18-242, rather than a common-law bad-faith tort, and an insurer can rescind for a misstatement only if the application question was specific enough.
Nebraska
Nebraska ties interest on late life proceeds to the judgment rate, awards attorney fees to a beneficiary who wins a policy judgment without requiring proof of bad faith, and limits the first-party bad-faith tort to policyholders.
Nevada
Nevada counts its 30-day payment deadline from the date of death, not from proof of death. Interest runs from the death on anything paid later, the unfair claims statute lets an insured sue for damages, and Nevada courts recognize a tort for bad-faith refusal to pay.
New Hampshire
New Hampshire rewrote its life insurance chapter in 2023: interest runs from the date of death with 10% added once a complete claim sits more than 30 days, group life policies cannot exclude deaths tied to pre-existing conditions, and since July 2025 a beneficiary who murders the insured forfeits the proceeds.
New Jersey
New Jersey gives life insurers 60 days to pay a death claim after due proof, requires a written explanation by day 45 if the claim is being investigated or denied, and adds interest to overdue payments. Inside the two-year contest period, insurers can rescind for a knowing, material misstatement even without intent to defraud.
New Mexico
New Mexico charges an insurer interest at one and one-half times the prime rate once a claim sits unpaid for 45 days after proof of loss, gives a statutory damages action to people harmed by unfair claims practices, and holds that a death inside the two-year contest period keeps the policy contestable.
New York
New York adds interest to every life insurance death payment from the date of death, expects a decision within 30 working days of a proper proof of loss, and sets a strict test before an insurer can rescind over an application answer.
North Carolina
North Carolina charges a life insurer interest back to the date of death once 30 days pass after proof of death, requires a mailed premium notice before most policies can lapse, and lets claimants use its unfair-trade-practices law against bad claim handling.
North Dakota
North Dakota bars a suicide defense once a policy has been in force one year, requires death settlements to carry reasonable interest from the date of death when proof is filed within 180 days, and forbids policies from cutting the time to sue below five years.
Ohio
Ohio requires life policies to pay a death claim within two months after proof of death, owes interest from the date of death on most lump-sum payouts, and makes it unusually hard for an insurer to defeat a claim over an application answer.
Oklahoma
Oklahoma makes a life insurer send claim forms within 10 days of notice of death and pay within 30 days of proof, with interest back to the date of death if it is late. It limits the suicide exclusion to two years with a premium refund and bars policy suit limits under two years.
Oregon
Oregon makes an insurer pay the beneficiary's attorney fees when it has not settled within six months of proof of loss and the beneficiary wins more than the insurer tendered. It also requires interest from the date of death when a claim is unpaid after 30 days, and it extends its slayer statute to people convicted of abusing the insured.
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania requires interest on life insurance death benefits that go unpaid 30 days after proof of death, sets working-day deadlines for claim handling by regulation, and lets courts award interest, punitive damages and attorney fees when an insurer acts in bad faith toward its insured.
Rhode Island
Rhode Island fixes interest on life insurance death proceeds at 9% a year from the date of death, voids a policy for a misstatement only if the misstated matter contributed to the death, bans discretionary clauses, and lets insureds sue for bad-faith refusal to pay under a 1981 statute.
South Carolina
South Carolina adds interest from the date of death when a lump-sum life claim is not paid within 30 days of complete proof, lets a court award attorney fees when a life insurer refuses a demand without reasonable cause, and sets out exactly how an insurer may rescind a policy during the contest period.
South Dakota
South Dakota makes life insurers pay interest running from the date of death, lets a court award fees when a refusal to pay was vexatious or without reasonable cause, and keeps fraud available as a defense even after the two-year contest period.
Tennessee
Tennessee lets a policyholder recover up to 25% more than the loss when an insurer refuses in bad faith to pay within 60 days of a formal demand. A Department rule written for life insurers sets 30-day and 60-day marks for forms, investigation, payment and denial letters.
Texas
Texas puts hard clocks on life insurers and backs them with an 18% damages rate. Here is how the Insurance Code handles a death claim from first notice to payment.
Utah
Utah makes life insurers pay interest on death proceeds from the date of death, adds 10% a year once a claim sits unpaid past a 31-day window, and treats an insurer's bad faith toward its own insured as a breach of contract rather than a tort.
Vermont
Under a statute added in 2020, Vermont requires life claims to be paid within 30 days of proof of loss, with interest from the date of death at no less than 6%, and a higher judgment-rate interest once the deadline passes.
Virginia
Virginia gives an insurer 15 calendar days after proof of loss to accept or deny a death claim, makes it "clearly prove" that an application answer was material and untrue, and adds interest from the date of death.
Washington
Washington makes life insurers pay at least 8% interest from the date of death, adds 3 points once 90 days pass after proof of death, and sets 30-day claim deadlines in its insurance regulations.
West Virginia
West Virginia gives ten years to sue on a signed written contract, bars a convicted killer, conspirator or abuser of an incapacitated adult from insurance money, and has a 1986 Supreme Court of Appeals rule on fees for policyholders who substantially prevail on property claims.
Wisconsin
Wisconsin treats a claim as overdue 30 days after the insurer has written notice and proof of the loss, charges 7.5% simple interest on overdue payments, limits rescission for application misstatements, and bars policy clauses that shorten the time to sue.
Wyoming
Wyoming gives life insurers 45 days after proofs of loss to accept or reject a claim, requires interest from the date of death, lets courts add attorney fees and 10% interest when a refusal is unreasonable, and recognizes a tort for first-party bad faith.
More states are being added. Employer-provided group life is usually governed by federal law (ERISA) instead; see employer group life.