Does My Life Insurance Policy Cover Suicide?

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Life insurance policies help provide for your loved ones if you unexpectedly pass away. Life insurance plans pay a death benefit to the beneficiaries after the policyholder dies. Life insurance will cover the most common causes of death. However, there are challenges when the policyholder dies by suicide.

Some insurance policies exclude suicide coverage. Other insurance policies have a suicide clause. Suicide clauses limit the life insurance payout if the policyholder kills themself within the first two years of the policy. However, policy coverage and insurance laws vary by state and the individual policy terms. If you have questions about life insurance coverage, talk to a local insurance law attorney for legal advice.

Life Insurance Suicide Clauses

Jason Turchin, a personal injury attorney in Weston, Florida, sees approximately 100 insurance-claim cases annually. Generally, only one or two of those involve suicide exclusion claims, but that doesn’t make them any less critical.

“If there’s a suicide, the average person may not know what type of life insurance they have, and when it might apply, or when there’s going to be an exclusion,” he says. Often, insurance policies have a suicide clause exclusion. Suicide exclusions are standard in accidental death and dismemberment (AD&D) policies.

AD&D plans are generally cheaper because they only apply in the event of an accident. As for a term policy, that simply means the policy will expire after a certain period of time. A whole life policy will last a lifetime. Whole life policies will generally cover suicide if the death occurs more than two years after the date the policy becomes effective.

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State One or Two-Year Incontestability Statute

Most states have a two-year incontestability statute. According to Turchin, as long as the policy has been in effect for over two years, the insurance company has limited grounds to deny payouts. In an instance of suicide, “as long as it’s a whole-life policy and there are no exclusions in the policy — and the death occurs at least two years after the policy’s effective date, it should still pay out the benefit,” he says.

“Anything within the two years,” Turchin continues, “may be excluded by the policy language, or may be excluded because of a material misrepresentation on the insured’s health or mental health at the time of the application process.”

For example, suppose that someone has had suicidal thoughts or a prior suicide attempt and they didn’t disclose that information on their life insurance policy. “If the person dies within two years of the policy becoming effective, even if there was not an exclusion, the company may investigate that claim for a material misrepresentation during the policy application period,” Turchin says. “And the insurance company will argue, ‘We never would have insured this policy had we known that.'”

Contestability Periods for Life Insurance Claims

When getting a life insurance quote, the insurance company asks about your health history, pre-existing conditions, and mental health conditions. You must answer these questions honestly and disclose any mental health issues. If you fail to disclose a mental illness, the insurance company can use this misrepresentation to deny your claim.

Insurance plans generally have an incontestability clause. This clause limits how long the insurance company has to contest, investigate, or deny a fraudulent claim. After the contestability period, the insurance company generally accepts the policyholder’s representations. In most states, the contestability period is two years.

Recouping Benefits

Even if the deceased’s insurance is an AD&D plan, you may still be able to recoup their benefits. “It’s hard to tell sometimes if somebody is taking a lot of pain medication and they die of an overdose,” Turchin notes. “Did they intend on overdosing? Or, was their pain threshold so great that taking 10 pills still didn’t kill their pain — but it ends up killing the person accidentally?”

If Turchin’s firm gets a call, and there’s any question that the coverage might apply in a suicidal death, they’ll generally take the case. “Oftentimes,” he says, “these are worth looking into — especially because there’s no standard policy language.”

Contingency Fee Arrangements for Lawyers

Insurance attorneys work on a contingency fee, meaning the client doesn’t have to pay out of pocket. The attorneys only get paid if there’s recovery for the insurance claim. Since they don’t get paid by the hour, there’s no incentive for an insurance attorney to work on a case unnecessarily.

Once a firm has taken your case, the lawyer will contact the insurance company to get a copy of the policy. They’ll also request one from the deceased’s beneficiary or family member. Your attorney may also request medical records, the death certificate, and other information.

Turchin will then send a demand letter for the policy benefits. The insurance company will either respond by paying benefits or with an explanation for why they are denying insurance coverage. Often, if the company continues their denial, Turchin will then file a declaratory judgment action against the insurance company. With a declaratory judgment, the attorney asks the judge to declare that the coverage applies.

In some states, your attorney can request attorney fees if you file a lawsuit because your insurance claim was denied. Talk to your attorney to understand what compensation you can recover in an insurance appeal lawsuit.

Resolving Insurance Cases

“We often can get a copy of all the documents the insurance company relied on to make their denial, so we can see if there’s anything they may have missed in their analysis,” says Turchin. “Generally, these cases either get resolved on summary judgment, they get settled, or they go to trial.”

Turchin notes that federal court cases are often resolved about a year from filing. State cases take approximately two years on average. His firm has had cases settle as fast as within 20 days of filing.

Find Legal Help for Life Insurance Claims

A growing number of states have recognized physician-assisted suicide laws. People with terminal illnesses may choose to end their lives rather than suffer through their condition. Whether life insurance covers suicide in these situations will depend on the individual policy terms.

“If there’s any question of whether or not coverage should apply, the courts generally defer to affording coverage, not denying it,” Turchin says. “If people ever have a question on a claim that was denied, let a life insurance attorney review it. Oftentimes, there are a lot of mistakes that the life insurance companies make.”