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eLearning Series:
Your Most Popular Insurance Questions
Answers For Health and Home
Insurance
( 50 articles
in this series )
Suicide: Life
Insurance Policy Coverage
We’ve all seen this scenario before, either
in a movie or on the evening news. A spouse, distraught over
his or her family’s crushing financial burden, decides to commit
suicide so that the surviving family members can collect his
or her life insurance benefits. For Jimmy Stewart in It’s a
Wonderful Life, his intended act of suicide was halted through
the intervention of a guardian angel and everyone lived happily
ever after. Unfortunately, this is not the way the story ends
for families living in the real world.
What
really happens to a family in the aftermath of a suicide
attempt can be many times more devastating than the original
circumstances that led to the attempt. If the attempt is successful,
then the survivors may be left with a double tragedy. Not only
have they lost a loved one, but what if the relevant life insurance
policy will not pay benefits in the event of a suicide? Now
the surviving family members are looking at even more debt
because of funeral and burial costs and the deceased’s lost
income.
If
the suicide attempt is unsuccessful and there is no lasting
injury, then the disturbed individual and his or her family
are very lucky. There is no loss of a loved one and psychological
counseling can be sought. Most health insurance policies will
even pay for the treatment. If, on the other hand, a suicide
attempt leaves the individual physically incapacitated permanently
or for an extended period of time, this could spell even greater
financial disaster for the affected family members. If the
individual is also the primary wage earner, then the family
has lost its major source of income (along with any attendant
benefits) and must pay for physical care that may not be covered
by any insurance policies.
The information that follows gives a brief overview of different
insurance policies and what they will or will not cover in
the case of a suicide or suicide attempt.
Suicide Coverage
The desperate soul who rushes out to buy an insurance policy
and then immediately commits suicide is misguided in two respects:
first, he or she should have sought help from a mental health
professional for assistance in dealing with such self-destructive
thoughts; and, second, the life insurance policy won’t pay
if the suicide is committed immediately after its purchase.
Most
life insurance policies have a suicide clause. Either
death resulting from suicide is not covered at all or a death
resulting from suicide is covered only after two years have
passed since the date of the policy’s purchase. Why the two-year
period? It’s thought that a clause that excludes suicide as
a valid cause of death in the first two years of the policy’s
life will stop someone contemplating suicide from buying the
policy on impulse. There’s no immediate benefit, so they won’t
buy the policy. Even if a person intent on committing suicide
does buy a policy, the chances that they will still want to
end their life after waiting two years is slim. There are life
insurance policies that do not exclude suicide at all, but
most of these plans are prohibitively expensive.
Coverage for Suicide Attempts
The most relevant type of insurance coverage for someone who
has survived a suicide attempt is health insurance. Obviously,
someone who attempts suicide is in need of psychological help
and many health insurance plans will pay for this. Some families
might be hesitant to use this benefit because of the stigma
attached to suicide and may be concerned that word of the family
member’s mental health problems will become the subject of
workplace gossip. Fortunately, those who handle and view insurance
claims in an office are bound to strict rules of confidentiality
and are prohibited from discussing any worker’s medical or
psychological condition. The family can seek treatment and
know that word of their situation will not be spread.
If someone survives a suicide attempt but sustains injuries
that are permanent or that require long-term care, the situation
can be pretty grim. Most health insurance companies will not
cover injuries that are self-inflicted. So, things like hospital
bills, rehabilitation costs, doctor’s bills, home care attendants
and all other potential medical necessities would have to be
paid for by the individual who attempted suicide.
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by SolveYourProblem.com : 2005
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