About
Thirty Years of Claims Handling Experience
Knowing how insurers actually decide a claim is what tells you whether a denial will hold.
Stephen C. Burgess
Life Insurance Claim Advocate
Licensed Life Insurance Analyst. I handle every claim personally, from the first phone call through to payment.
I am Stephen C. Burgess. I resolve life insurance claim disputes for beneficiaries across the United States, and I have been doing it for more than 30 years. The work my practice has done has put over $250 million into the hands of the people a policy was meant to protect.
Most of that was recovered without litigation. Claims get resolved by dealing directly with the insurer’s claims and legal departments, with evidence, and with a clear account of why the decision is wrong.
What Thirty Years of Claims Handling Gives You
I have handled the investigation and settlement of death claims with the claims and legal departments of nearly every major life insurer in the country. I know how these companies evaluate a claim, what their examiners are instructed to look for, and where their reasoning tends to break down.
I also spent years in underwriting, involved in the assessment of thousands of life insurance applications from submission through to issue.
That combination is the reason I can be useful to you. A denied death claim is almost always an argument about underwriting. The insurer says that had it known some fact at the time of application, it would never have issued the policy. Testing that claim requires knowing how underwriting decisions are actually made, what insurers verify, what they choose not to verify, and which discrepancies genuinely change an outcome.
Who I Work For
Beneficiaries. Only beneficiaries. I do not work for insurance companies on claims, and I do not take work that would put me on the other side of the people I represent.
Attorneys around the country also retain me as an expert on life insurance claims practice, and I have been admitted and given opinions in courts in every jurisdiction. That work is not what this site is about, but it is the reason I know what an insurer’s claims manual says and how these decisions are made behind the letter you received.
Licensing and Background
- Life Insurance Analyst, a licensed designation held by relatively few professionals
- Life Insurance Agent, licensed in California, Arizona, Nevada, Illinois, and Connecticut
- Formerly FINRA Series 7, 24 and 63 registered
- Regional Director, Penn Mutual Life Insurance Company, 1995 to 2008
Insurers I Have Worked Claims Against
Over the years I have handled the investigation and settlement of death claims involving the claims and legal departments at companies including:
- Penn Mutual
- Prudential
- MetLife
- American General
- Globe Life
- National Life of Vermont
- Lincoln Financial
- Securian
- TruStage
- Farmers
- Western & Southern
- Foresters
- John Hancock
- AAA Life
- State Farm
- Primerica
- Mass Mutual
- Assurity
- Amalgamated Life
- Lumico
How I Charge
There is no retainer and there is no hourly billing. My fee is 10 percent of what is recovered, and it applies only if the claim pays. If I cannot get the claim paid, you owe me nothing.
That structure exists for a reason. Attorneys typically charge a third to 40 percent and will usually only take a claim large enough to justify litigation. Smaller claims, which are most claims, get turned away. Those are the ones I built this practice to handle.
Why This Site Exists
Most of what is written about denied life insurance claims is either marketing for law firms or vague reassurance that tells you nothing. Beneficiaries need to know what the insurer is doing, why, and what actually moves a decision.
I also handle critical illness and accidental death claims. For critical illness, see Critical Illness Claim Advocate for appeals and Critical Illness Claim Help for how those payouts are calculated. For accidental death and dismemberment, see Accidental Death Claim Help. My main practice is the Center for Life Insurance Disputes.
Everything here is written from claims I have worked. If your question is not answered, call me at (888) 428-4868 or email steveb@proplanusa.com. I answer these myself.
Get help with your claim
Tell me where your claim stands and what the insurer has said. I will tell you what is really going on and what it takes to get it paid. There is no charge for that review.
No retainer. No hourly billing. No fee unless the claim pays.