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But underwriters are breaking down H1N1 applicants into three categories: those who currently have the flu, those who had a mild case and recovered, and those who were hospitalized. Those who have it now won't be considered for coverage until they get better, he says, while those who have recovered from a mild case have to wait two to three months. Those unlucky enough to be hospitalized may not qualify for life insurance for a full year.Marr's assessment is based on feedback from insurance industry underwriters. But when contacted by MoneySense, several insurance companies denied having such rules. One spokesperson...

Since the near collapse of Wall Street from the sub-prime mortgage crisis, traders have been jonesing for a return to the adrenaline rush they once enjoyed from the slew of exotic financial instruments cooked up in the dark recesses of special hedge fund units. And according to a piece in the New York Times, they have found it with a ghoulish scheme gambling on death, by repackaging life insurance policies sold for a fraction of their worth by sick and desperate elderly people. Once people die, the investors make money. And it’s much more profitable if you die sooner rather...

Deutsche Bank and other financial institutions manage complex funds that buy up Americans' life insurance policies and pay their premiums in return for their payouts. But angry German investors are finding that Americans aren't dying as quickly as expected -- and that only the bankers are making a buck. snip -

Insurers: Pain from Commercial Real Estate? By Robert McNatt Thu May 21, 8:08 am ET America's deteriorating commercial real estate picture has a special resonance for U.S. life insurers because of the approximately $310 billion, industrywide, that they've invested in commercial and multifamily mortgages. Life insurers gravitate to these assets because they are fixed-income in nature and long-term in maturation, making them especially well-matched with insurers' liabilities: the annuities and life insurance policies they sell. (Insurers often underwrite mortgages with different durations -- for instance, of five, seven, or 10 years -- to hedge their risks and ensure consistent income.)...

The Obama administration is seeking $12.8 billion in new tax revenue from life insurers over the next decade, even as the federal government offers the struggling sector bailout funds. The provisions in the Treasury Department tax plan released last week would restrict several products that have drawn attention from regulators in recent years because of the way they use life-insurance policies as vehicles for minimizing taxes on investments. [death and taxes] The proposals would restrict several tax breaks received by purchasers of insurance or insurance companies themselves, and also require more information reporting in some cases. Industry representatives say the...

Life insurers to impose 'fat tax' on the obese, costing up to 50 per cent moreBy BECKY BARROW - More by this author » Last updated at 22:37pm on 22nd February 2008  A "fat tax" is to be imposed on the obese by life insurance firms, it emerged last night.  Around 50 per cent extra could be charged on new premiums - and the threshold at which the higher rate starts will be lowered. The increased charge can be up to 400 per cent if you fall into other high risk categories, such as being a smoker or having...

FRESNO - Scott Peterson, sentenced to death for murdering his wife, Laci, and her fetus in 2002, isn't entitled to the proceeds of her $250,000 life insurance policy, a state appeals court ruled today. The Fifth District Court of Appeal in Fresno upheld a Stanislaus County judge's ruling that Laci Peterson's mother, Sharon Rocha, the administrator of her estate, should get the insurance money. The Petersons, who lived in Modesto, took out insurance policies on each other in 2001. Laci Peterson disappeared on Christmas Eve 2002, when she was eight months pregnant. Her remains were found on the Richmond shoreline...

The Rev. Jerry Falwell had life insurance policies worth $34 million and the money has been used to erase the debt of Liberty University, the school he founded. The televangelist's son, Liberty Chancellor Jerry Falwell Jr., said his father had named the university and the Thomas Road Baptist Church as beneficiaries to protect their future. The policies left $29 million to Liberty; its debt had reached $82 million in 1992, but the school had succeeded in paying off a significant amount before the elder Falwell's death. Another $5 million went to the 22,000-member Thomas Road congregation, which Falwell had led,...

TAMPA - When Karen Armatrout died in 1997, her employer, Wal-Mart, collected thousands of dollars on a life insurance policy the retail giant had taken out without telling her, according to a lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court. Armatrout was one of about 350,000 employees Wal-Mart secretly insured nationwide, said Texas attorney Michael D. Myers, who estimated the company collected on 75 to 100 policies involving Florida employees who died. Myers is seeking to make the Armatrout lawsuit a class-action case on behalf of the estates of all the Florida employees who died while unwittingly insured by Wal-Mart. "Creepy's a...

Police are investigating two women in their 70s who they believe hatched a scheme to offer two homeless men shelter, then collect more than $2 million in insurance policies after they were killed in hit-and-run crashes. Police also believe the women may have committed the accidents and were befriending other men to set up more insurance policies. “Anyone would think that even though they’re making financial gains for this, that they would leave the actual dirty work to someone else or hire someone,” police Detective Dennis Kilcoyne said. “We’re not so sure about that anymore. ... This is pretty evil.”

Soldier's mom accused of stealing insurance money BY BOB KASARDA bkasarda@nwitimes.com 219.462.5151 VALPARAISO | Just three months before Roy Russell Buckley was killed in Iraq, the Portage resident took out a $250,000 life insurance policy and left his mother in charge of safeguarding the money until his young daughter reached 18. The money is now gone, and police are blaming Buckley's mother, Janie Lee Espinoza, of Portage. The 56-year-old has been charged with eight counts of felony theft. Police said she wasted little time in stealing the money. Her son was killed April 22, 2003, and by May 21, 2003,...

Judge gives mom Peterson life insurance Court says Sharon Rocha should receive $250,000 By SUSAN HERENDEEN BEE STAFF WRITER Last Updated: December 17, 2005, 04:39:00 AM PST Sharon Rocha's quest to recover the proceeds of a $250,000 life insurance policy on her daughter, Laci Peterson,ended Friday. Stanislaus County Superior Court Judge Roger Beauchesne ruled in favor of Rocha, reconfirming two previous judgments he made in the case. He also noted the "tortured procedural history" that led to his final decision. The court has heard the case once a month since September. Under state law, people who kill their spouses...

FRESNO, Calif. (AP) - A judge has ruled that the $250,000 life insurance policy that Scott Peterson had taken out on his wife will go instead to her mother. Stanislaus County Superior Court Judge Roger Beauchesne said Friday that because Scott Peterson was convicted of killing his pregnant wife, Laci, and the fetus she carried, he is not entitled to collect the benefits of her life insurance policy. Under state law, criminals cannot profit from their crimes. The judge said the money should go to the executor of her estate, which is Laci Peterson's mother, Sharon Rocha. Scott Peterson was...

I'm hoping that someone can answer a question for me. Can a person buy a life insurance policy on another person without their consent or signature?

Chasing the death dividend Viatical agreements match those who want to cash in on life insurance policies with investors willing to buy the rights to those policies. But a lack of regulation leaves the system open to fraud. July 4, 2004 When the U.S. Coast Guard raided a Russian fishing vessel on the Pacific Ocean in 2001, investigators hit a jackpot: more than 12 tons of chalky powder hidden beneath a mountain of frozen squid, the largest haul of cocaine ever intercepted at sea. At the time, they had no idea they also had tapped in to what federal authorities...

So, You Say You Support the Troops, But..... Written by Russ Vaughn Wednesday, January 26, 2005 So You Say You Support The Troops? 2d Ed. It’s so easy to say you support the troops, regardless of which side you come down on in the issue of the War in Iraq itself. Yeah, you can send care packages and put yellow ribbon magnets on your car to make you feel all warm and fuzzy that you’re doing your own small part. You can do as I do and use forums such as this one to expound the viewpoint of the folks...

A Framingham woman who stabbed her elderly husband to death and tried to collect on his $100,000 life insurance policy was sentenced to 10-to-12 years in prison yesterday after pleading guilty to manslaughter. Bernard Harfield was hospitalized for more than six months after he was stabbed. His daughter wed in the hospital chapel so he could attend.

Editorial | Fighting a Big Corporation Shame on Big Mac Everything about the McDonald's Corp. is big, big, big, and we're not just talking Big Macs. There are 30,000 McDonald's hamburger restaurants in 119 countries, serving 47 million customers a day. Profits were up a big 56 percent this first quarter - totaling $511 million, on revenues of $4.4 billion. Impressive stuff. But when it comes to jobs at McDonald's the words big and impressive don't come into play as often. Jobs at McDonald's are considered low paying, low level and last choice. "McJobs," as defined by Merriam-Webster's dictionary, "require...

<p>ATLANTA — When Joel St. John died, his wife learned that the grocery store chain where he worked as a butcher was the beneficiary of his life insurance policy, not his family.</p> <p>The company made off with $100,000 of his money and the family only received $17,500.</p>

The company charged nonwhite customers more than whites during much of the 20th century. By JEFF HARRINGTON, Times Staff Writer © St. Petersburg Times published August 31, 2002 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- MetLife Inc. has agreed to give nonwhite customers as much as $160-million in compensation to settle accusations that it made them pay higher, race-based rates for life insurance between 1901 and 1972. The settlement, approved by a federal judge in New York and made public this week, represents one of the biggest payouts to rectify discriminatory insurance practices that first came to light in the Tampa Bay area three years ago....