automatically continues for the duration of the disability.
As an employee, Mr. Ghazi was covered by the UNUM group policy and was given a copy of Fiserv's employee benefit book. This book details the terms of the policy and includes a section titled "Life Insurance Conversion Rights." This section explains the conversion process and its 31-day time limit.
Mr. Ghazi was terminated from his employment on July 8, 1994. On July 16, 1994, he received a letter informing him of his rights regarding, inter alia, the conversion of his group life insurance coverage to a personal policy.
Mr. Ghazi did not contact either Fiserv or UNUM about converting his group life insurance coverage to a personal policy within the 31-day period. Mr. Ghazi sent a letter to UNUM, dated September 10,1994 and received on October 14, 1994, requesting the necessary conversion forms and enclosing an estimated premium. In his letter requesting continuation of his life insurance, Mr. Ghazi did not provide his termination date. UNUM did not, therefore, immediately inform Mr. Ghazi that his conversion period had expired, but instead responded by mailing him a conversion application. The cover letter to the application informed Mr. Ghazi that his group insurance policy gave him only 31 days from the date of his employment termination to convert to a personal policy. The letter then erroneously informed Mr. Ghazi that he had until November 9, 1994, to return his application.
UNUM received Mr. Ghazi's completed application for conversion and the appropriate premium on November 4, 1994. On November 10, 1994, UNUM rejected