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September 28, 2018 at 11:46 AM
A jury in Alabama has awarded $10 million in damages to an amusement park operator, Apex Parks Group, in a case involving a key man life insurance policy.
The insured, Alexander Weber Jr., who was the chief executive officer of Apex, died in November 2016, while he was in the British Virgin Islands.
Apex has accused the issuer, Protective Life Insurance Company, of breaching a contract when it refused to pay the $10 million in death benefits owed under the key man life insurance policy.
Lawyers for Protective Life say that Weber and Apex failed to disclose important facts during the underwriting process. Protective Life plans to file an appeal with the Alabama Supreme Court, the company’s lawyers say.
Alexander Weber Jr. and Apex Parks
Alexander Weber Jr., who used the nickname “Al,’ worked for decades in the amusement park industry, according to a 2015 biography posted in connection with a seminar organized by the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions.
Weber became the chief executive officer of Paramount Parks in 2002; the CEO of Palace Entertainment, a water park and family entertainment center operator, in 2007; and the interim CEO of Six Flags Theme Parks in 2010.
In 2014, he helped start the Aliso Viejo, California-based Apex Parks Group, and he became that organization’s CEO. Apex runs water parks, amusement parks and family entertainment centers. The company’s holdings include the Big Kahuna’s Water and Adventure Park in Destin, Florida, and Martin’s Fantasy Island in Grand Island, N.Y., according to the company’s website.
The Policy
Protective Life Insurance Company is a unit of Birmingham, Alabama-based Protective Life Corp., which is a subsidiary of Dai-ichi Life Holdings Inc. of Tokyo.
Weber applied for a Protective Custom Choice insurance policy in March 2016, according to documents that Apex and Protective Life filed with the Alabama state circuit court in Birmingham.
The policy was a 10-year term life insurance policy with a $10 million death benefit, Protective Life said.
Apex was the policy beneficiary.
The Conflict
Apex said Protective Life Insurance Company failed to honor the terms of the policy, by refusing to pay the death benefit when Weber died.
Protective Life Insurance Company said in pleadings that, because Weber died within two years after the policy was issued, it investigated the policy when the claim came in. The company said its investigators found evidence that Weber had left material health information out of the policy application.
