Brother’s Toxicology won’t come back for 6-8 months

Hi everyone,

Last week I posted about how I was sure if my brother’s life insurance would be valid because he quit 1 week before death. After some research, I believe he fell into a 31 day grace period to convert to private insurance so the policy was still valid.

I have a new concern though. My brother MOST LIKELY died of an accidental drug overdose (that or he was high and he fell and hit his head. My FIL works narcotics and saw the body and he believes it was an overdose). The problem is the coroner told me it will take 6-8 months to receive the toxicology report, meaning his cause of death on his death certificate will say “deferred” until that point.

His work submitted three claims for me. Basic, supplemental, and accidental. I’m pretty sure they have a drug exclusion clause for accidental so I’m almost certain that will be denied. Which is fine. Am I able to go forward with the basic and supplemental claims until the toxicology report comes back? Or am I going to have to wait the 6-8 months for a death certificate with an official cause of death for all of them? This has been such a headache. I messaged them and I’m waiting to hear back. The paperwork I got says “To avoid delays, the certificate needs to include the cause and manner of death as the claim cannot be processed without it.”. However I spoke to a representative today and she wasn’t sure. Said it was up to whoever was reviewing the claim?

What if they try to deny my claim before the cause of death comes back? Should I challenge it?