Life insurance claim delayed months after hacker attack
A Las Vegas woman received a payout only after media inquiry, while TruStage addresses over 14 consolidated lawsuits.
By Daniela Ortega ·
At least 14 lawsuits against life insurance provider TruStage have been consolidated into a class action in a federal court. The filings allege the company failed to implement adequate cybersecurity safeguards, leaving customers exposed to identity theft risks.
The legal battle follows a cyberattack that forced TruStage to shut down its network. Stephanie McWoods, a Las Vegas resident, faced a personal version of the fallout. Her father, who lived in Chicago, died on July 23. He had purchased a policy with TruStage after reconnecting with his family following McWoods' mother's death in 2023.
McWoods attempted to file a claim immediately after the funeral. She could not log into the company's portal and struggled to reach a human representative. The company could not confirm the policy existed, yet premium payments continued to leave her bank account. McWoods said TruStage advised her to contact her bank for a stop payment because their systems were offline.
By October, McWoods had received no update on the claim. She contacted local media in Nevada and reporters in Chicago, where her father resided. After the media began investigating, McWoods received a check for the policy amount.
"It's incredibly frustrating, extremely disappointing, and I think that every American citizen should be concerned because this is something that so many of us invest in and we rely on," McWoods said. "We believe that because we put these things in place, everything will work out when you have that devastating moment. To be waiting months for a payment, to be waiting this long, it's not acceptable."
TruStage stated that the cyberattack disrupted claim processing and customer communication tools. The company said it has expanded customer service teams and created new processes to resolve cases faster. A data impact assessment is currently ongoing. The company did not specify how many Nevada customers were affected or list the types of personal information compromised in its response to the inquiry.
TruStage also noted that it is reviewing cases where premiums may have been collected in error during the outage. For customers facing exceptional hardships, the company said it may refer them to a Customer Assistance Fund. This fund is administered by an independent third-party nonprofit and is intended to cover urgent needs while a claim is being resolved.
