West Virginia Funeral Home Ordered to Reimburse Insurer for False Death Claims

July 27, 2016

A federal judge has ruled for an insurance company in its case against the operators of a funeral home in Putnam County, West Virginia, accused of filing false death claims on behalf of pre-need contract customers who weren’t actually dead.

The Charleston Gazette-Mail reports Homesteaders Life Insurance Company was granted default judgment June 30 in its lawsuit against Poca-based Gatens-Harding Funeral Home owners Chad and Billie Harding.

The lawsuit said that the Hardings cashed in on over $1 million worth of pre-need funeral contracts for 111 people who were still alive during an eight-year period.

The Hardings denied the allegations in a filing last year by their attorney Jeff Woods.

The judge cited a “complete lack of interest in defending” the case.

The amount the Hardings will be ordered to pay Homesteaders hasn’t yet been determined.

Topics Carriers Claims Virginia

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Latest Comments

  • August 12, 2016 at 9:48 am
    Agent says:
    What are you smoking? Did you read the article? This is about Funeral Home rip offs.
  • August 11, 2016 at 7:18 pm
    zld says:
    No you dont get it! Not the wrong thread! Wait til it happens to you. Then you will still have trouble understanding it. We now allow all the evils of this world we were raise... read more
  • August 11, 2016 at 6:11 pm
    Agent says:
    Wrong thread dude.

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