AIG Beats $500,000 Benefits Suit Despite Mishandling Evidence

AIG Claims Inc. defeated a family’s lawsuit seeking $500,000 in accidental death benefits after their son’s fatal car accident, even though the company failed to preserve “crucial” evidence of the son’s blood alcohol content, an Alabama federal court ruled.

AIG’s decision to deny benefits based on the son’s intoxication at the time of the crash was supported by an eyewitness statement, police reports, and a toxicology report examining the son’s cardiac blood, the court said. This is satisfactory evidence supporting AIG’s decision to apply the intoxication exclusion in the accidental death benefits plan covering Cody Waters, the court said.

Waters’ ...