Hartford’s Death Benefits Denial After Motorcycle Crash Upheld

Hartford Life & Accident Ins. Co. properly denied $75,000 in accidental death benefits to the estate of a Piedmont Airlines Inc. employee who died in a 2019 motorcycle accident, a Maryland federal judge ruled.

The employee’s estate failed to internally appeal Hartford’s denial of benefits within the relevant time frame, which doomed its lawsuit seeking benefits under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, Judge Adam B. Abelson of the US District Court for the District of Maryland said Thursday.

• The employee’s mother submitted an appeal via fax about two months after the deadline passed, and there’s no evidence supporting the ...