Sequeira v. Lincoln National Life Ins. Co.
(California Court of Appeal) – In an action by an insured’s widow for benefits under a supplemental life insurance policy that was issued to decedent’s employer on January 1, 2010, the trial court’s ruling that plaintiff was not entitled to benefits because the policy required her husband to be “on the job, at his employer’s place of employment, performing his customary duties” between January 1 and his death, is reversed where the policy is ambiguous regarding whether decedent needed to perform his work responsibilities on New Year’s Day or anytime after that in order for his wife to receive benefits, thus the policy is interpreted in favor of decedent’s reasonable expectations, which are that he should not have to work on New Year’s Day or when he is sick in order to receive coverage that he has paid for.
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