The family Shannon Bennett, the gay Broward Sheriff’s deputy who died from COVID-19 in April, has been denied insurance benefits covering his death.
Insurance giant AIG denied the family’s claim for accidental death in the line of duty last month. Bennett became the first officer to die in Broward County of the coronavirus. According to AIG, Bennett’s death didn’t occur in the line of duty; “rather, his death was caused in whole or in part by, or resulted in whole or in part from sickness or disease, specifically excluded under this policy.”
“Essentially, while my family is grappling with trying to get our bearings back, this type of letter comes in and of course it floors us,” Darren Bennett, Shannon’s brother, told Local 10 News. Bennett was due to wed his fiance in December.
Related: This police chief linked colleague’s covid death to being gay; now he’s looking for a new job
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The Broward County Sherrif’s Office joined the family in protesting the claim denial, as the office believes Bennett contracted COVID-19 while on duty. The BSO also sent an appeal on behalf of the family, which was also denied. AIG acknowledged that Bennett did likely contract the virus while in the line of duty, but held to the decision not to honor his benefits.
“One of the most difficult tragedies to endure in this profession is a line of duty death,” Broward Sheriff Gregory Tony said in a statement. “We are committed to helping the Bennett family. We pay thousands of dollars each year for this insurance, and I’m extremely disappointed that AIG is denying this claim. We will exhaust all appeals. I have directed my command staff to review our contract with AIG. We hope as we have further dialogue with AIG, they recognize the global impact in [the] message that they are sending to our first responders.”
The war over Bennett’s insurance benefits is just the latest in a series of bizarre scandals surrounding his death and the Broward Sheriff’s office. Earlier this week, Queerty reported that Dale Engle, a former colleague of Bennett’s, lost his job after blaming Bennett’s death on his homosexuality.
frapachino
#bluelivesmatter
Matthewnow
Brilliant!
rickywintour
#blacklivesmatter
Bob
All right guys, relax. Not sure why it’s so awful to say, but ALL lives matter!
ShowMeGuy
Clearly……. #insurancecompanyprofitsmatter
Larry
AIG along with Lehman Brothers caused the housing crisis in 2008-2009 so I guess even having the Feds bailed them out, they need to make some cash.
sillyme
That company is really deplorable to deny a first responder and his family that in any way or form doesn’t say much for that company and I praise the sheriffs office there for taking a positive action for him and his family with I hope his fiancee. That’s just so wrong in many different ways. Support the #BluelivesMatter.
michaelmt1009
This is an email that I just sent to AIG regarding there decision to not provide death benefits for Sheriff Bennett’s family. Once again insurance companies are more than happy to take our payments but never want to pay out. I encourage everyone who reads this to contact AIG and tell them what you think.
I just read the article regarding the death of Broward County, Florida , Sherriff, dying of Covid 19 and being denied insurance benefits. Your company should be extremely ashamed of itself for taking such action. This once again spotlights the over zealousness and greed that seems to come with insurance companies. It seems to be the same with all insurance companies weather it is health benefits or death benefits, or auto insurance or homeowners insurance. You are more than happy to take our payments for years and years but try to process a claim and suddenly you guys find every excuse int he book to deny payment. I seriously think that all of you involved in this decision should hang your heads in shame. There is no other word for your decision but despicable. SHAME ON YOU AND YOUR COMPANY.
SPC
The Article leads the reader to believe no benefits were paid. Fails to mention that the Life Insurance was not contested, I am sure AIG paid that benefit. Only AD&D was denied, and being a 30 year gay insurance professional, disappointed Queerty sensationalized this. The denial on the AD&D policy was appropriate.
jlew64
You are 100% correct SPC… Dying of COVID is not an “accidental” death. Queerty, once again, lures us with click-bait.
fresnoman4man
Thank you SPC, for being a beacon of rationality in a sea of fulminating drama queens. The masters of this site take diabolical delight in concocting patently false acerbic scripts.
renzinthewoods
“Rather, his death was caused in whole or in part by, or resulted in whole or in part from sickness or disease, specifically excluded under this policy.“ More click bait. The headline allows us to assume benefits were denied maybe due to anti gay bias. Read the article carefully…headline should have read “Big Bad Insurance Company Fails To Pay Out ADD Benefit Due to Cause of Death Not Being Covered By Policy”
remy101983
The AD&D should also be paid because AIG has admitted that Bennett probably contracted COVID-19 on the job! After 34 years in the Insurance Industry, I also read between the lines. Therefore, if they litigate any ambiguous language will be decided on behalf of the insured! Also the employer supports the claim being paid. Front line workers are putting their lives on the line everyday. AIG should pay. They have 50 Billions in assets and revenue from premiums paid and returns on investments from those same premiums paid!
ShowMeGuy
The headline as written is correct. Nothing about it is untrue.
ElPillo
Broward County probably has AIG among its insurance providers; they should immediately terminate the agreement
Creamsicle
Of course insurance companies are going to pull this. The entire insurance industry will collapse if every death from a respiratory disease falls under AD&D coverage during a global pandemic that has been terribly mismanaged in the U.S.
fur_hunter
Well…..I see I am being banned from commenting here. I have tried to post 4 comments and NONE have been posted here.
fur_hunter
Yeah….NOW they post my comments that have no significance. What about the rest of those I have written today????
fur_hunter
I just tried to write another comment regarding insurance companies and HAS NOT been posted.
fur_hunter
TOTAL A SS holes!!!!!
jsmu
Queerty may like its clickbait, but the self-loathing little fa**ot TROLLS here (and their b*tchery) far outweigh any of the site’s exaggerations. @fresnoman4man obviously just discovered the thesaurus (well, as he’s a juvenile and hysterical 14 year old I suppose that’s not surprising…) : “a beacon of rationality in a sea of fulminating drama queens. The masters of this site take diabolical delight in concocting patently false acerbic scripts.” good gawud, talk about cheezy, pretentious, overwrought, self-aggrandizing prose. What a projecting little drama queen SHE is!
nm4047
or he has discovered how to cut and paste
nm4047
Amazing that the insurance companies as a whole declared from around 20Jan that any claims as a result of covid would not be assessed. But the orange headed clown that stated time and time again from Feb onward (which of course he now denies saying) that it wasn’t a problem in the US maybe the Federal govt should be able to intervene as the govt of the US hadn’t declared it a emergency that can be the basis of insurance using a date to void any claims associated with said emergency.
Onecaddy13
Everyone, from this day forward, if you have any type of life insurance, look thru it or have it revised. The world did not know this was going to happen and look at all the greedy companies that took advantage. There should be clauses and stipulations in every policy in the event something like this if it should ever god forbid happen again. Where do all these unpaid policies go?? Into their greedy fat wallets. I have always been anti whatever insurance because it’s a rip. Unfortunately, we have to have it. PAY UP AIG!!!!
EZinHTown
Thanks, once again Queerty for the clickbait. Has absolutely nothing to do with him being gay. Is it wrong? Absolutely! Is it any better for you to make us click by making it about sexual orientation so we see your ads? Absolutely not!
masterwill7
Seriously, this is easy! Everyone who reads this STOP your insurances at AIG and move them to another company. Spread the word and together we can bankrupt this asshole company!