- Amount
- $401,000 (full VGLI death benefit paid to our client, with interest)
- Counsel
- Interpleader Law
- Result for
- The insured's wife, our client
- Case
- Zamilpa v. Prudential Insurance Co. of America
- Court
- U.S. District Court, Western District of Texas
- Docket
- No. 3:25-cv-00163
- Decided
- August 8, 2025
- Issue
- Getting a delayed Veterans' Group Life Insurance claim paid in full when the insurer would neither pay nor deny it
The insured was an Army veteran with $400,000 of Veterans’ Group Life Insurance (VGLI), a federal program that Prudential administers through the Office of Servicemembers’ Group Life Insurance. He had named his wife as the sole beneficiary. He died in December 2024, and she filed her claim within weeks. Prudential neither paid nor denied it, and months later the claim was still on hold.
We sued Prudential for her in federal court in El Paso in May 2025, asking the court to declare her entitled to the benefit and asserting breach of contract. Prudential then conceded that the benefit was owed. When the insured’s daughter, the beneficiary under an earlier designation, contested the most recent designation, Prudential asked the court to decide between them. The daughter withdrew her claim, and in August 2025 Prudential paid our client the full $400,000 benefit with interest. The case was then dismissed by agreement.
What it shows. A claim that sits unpaid with no decision can be pushed forward by a lawsuit, and the insurer must then either pay or ask a court to decide who gets the money.
Read the court's order
- Joint stipulation of dismissal with prejudice after Prudential paid (Aug. 8, 2025) (PDF)
- Public docket, CourtListener
Past results do not guarantee a similar outcome. This summary describes the court's ruling; it is not legal advice about any other case.