Grapevine

By PAUL GRAY/

POLICY DISPUTES. According to insurance-industry executives, publisher Malcolm Forbes took out millions of dollars worth of life insurance with different companies in the years preceding his death. He often said this was an efficient way to pass along money to his heirs, but now at least one of the insurers is balking -- and investigating some of the information the publisher supplied on his applications. Says Richard Bevilacqua, public relations director for John Hancock: "Forbes had a multimillion-dollar policy that was taken out in the last two years. A claim has been filed, but we have not paid it, pending an investigation."

With reporting by DAVID ELLIS