The Region : $15.5-Million Award Won

The son and husband of a woman who was denied insurance payments for six months while she was dying won a $15.5-million award against an agency that had reported she was not eligible for the money. Jon P. Bancroft, 31, of Lake Forest, and his father, John, 58, of Anaheim, won the verdict against Equifax Services Inc. That investigative agency falsely told Associated Life Insurance Co. that Patrica Bancroft was disabled when she bought the policy and therefore was not eligible for payments, according to the verdict. Bancroft died Oct. 3, 1980, at 47, at home, after the insurer refused to pay hospital bills. The $15-million punitive damage award, representing 15% of the firm’s net worth, will be appealed, an Equifax attorney said.