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Gerber Life Insurance

Gerber Life Insurance review: Beneficiary status 4

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11:14 pm EDT
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My wife and I purchased a life insurance policy for our grandson in 2002. In 2011, my grandson was diagnosed with terminal cancer. On March 9, 2013, my grandson died from cancer. We had assigned portion of our insurance proceeds to be paid to the funeral home. We thought that the remainder of the funds would be sent to us since we had not named a beneficiary on the policy. We paid all the premiums on this policy. We learned that since we had not named a specific beneficiary that the remainder of the proceeds would be paid to "the biological parents". My daughter was sent a check and my grandson's father, who did not marry our daughter, was sent the other half of the check. My grandson's father had abandoned my grandson. He failed to visit him, give him any gifts for Christmas and birthdays. In my grandson's final months he begged for his father, who lived in the same area, to come and see him but he wouldn't and didn't. His relatives tried to get him to come and visit and he wouldn't. We contacted him prior to him receiving the check and advised him that we still had unpaid funeral expenses, medical bills and we wanted to purchase a headstone for our grandson. He promised us that he would but instead purchased new clothes, a watch and other items. He took a bunch of his family and his new girlfriend's family out for dinner for Mother's Day, approximately 10-15 people. He purchased a new phone and would not give out his new number. this was money that we had paid to insure that our grandson had a beautiful homegoing ceremony and a marker for his remembrance. His father is in the arrears for thousands of dollars of court ordered child support. I mean true abandonment for a child who touched so many lives. More than 1200 people attended his homegoing celebration which spoke volumes to the love that this community had for my grandson.
We contacted Gerber Life and explained the situation to them on several occasions. They informed us that since we took the policy out in 2002 that this was the way the benefits had to be paid. We also learned that in 2009 the Gerber Life Company changed the policy such that "if no beneficiary was named, the proceeds would be given to the owners of the policy. I asked why we were not notified of this significant change since there was no designation on our policy and would allow us to review our policy to determine if we may need to make changes. They informed us that they only advised those persons who were purchasing policies after 2009. I asked why was this change made and they would not address this with me. I am certain that there were several complaints regarding this which necessitated the change.
I am very dissatisfied with Gerber Life Insurance Company and what to advise all buyers - "Customers Beware". Gerber Life Insurance Company is not to be trusted. Also, would like to inform all policyholders and particularly those who may have policies that have been enforce prior to 2008 of this stipulation. I think this is wrong and I feel that my grandson deserves better. He had a DEADBEAT DAD and GERBER LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY is a DEADBEAT COMPANY, AS WELL.

If anyone would like to talk with me regarding this matter, I would be glad to help expose Gerber Life Insurance Company for what they really are. You may contact me, Len Henderson, [protected].

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4 comments
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Brandon Ceaser
Brandon Ceaser
Port Arthur, US
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Nov 27, 2012 8:38 am EST
Verified customer This complaint was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

"Gerber Life assigned Brandy M. Ramsey mail to my named/or Living Address on this new week.They sent just regular Mail before and this week decided to put Ms.Ramsey mail on my Delivered service address.This needs to be corrected by them A.S.A.P. I am not responsible for their issues with the Law."

I
I
I want my tax money back
US
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Jul 02, 2013 8:01 pm EDT

True same thing happening to me check your policies and please update

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H
Herbert A Stewart
US
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Jun 10, 2015 7:13 am EDT

Wow ... the only difference between the Henderson's complaint and my current situation is that mine refers to my granddaughter. Her natural father is also a deadbeat from the very beginning! No payments have been made against our claim yet and I am hopeful to modify the beneficiary information. I would also like to know how the Henderson family learned about the policy change.

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Jaywmc3
Nashville, US
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Nov 22, 2022 9:54 pm EST

I have two policies on my daughters that I opened the first day they came home from the hospital. I purchased them $15,000 each and was told that the policies would double once they turned 18. My daughters are 17 months apart in age and when the oldest turned 18 I noticed that my monthly bill still showed that she was only insured for $15,000 and not $30,000 as promised once she turned 18. I did not say anything, but waited to see what would happen when my other daughter turned 18. Sure enough, the policies did NOT reflect the $30,000 for each of them now that they were adults. I e-mailed customer service and they took one week to get back to me. They stated that the rules had changed and that my children would not be granted the $30,000 amount until they were 21 years of age. This frustrated me because they constantly send spam e-mails and still advertise that their policies "double" in benefits at age 18 - not 21. Not sure what to do about this but to just wait and see what they pull when my girls turn 21. I hope my children live forever, but it is unacceptable that they change the rules when they want; especially with long-term paying customers.

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